The Party
by lozielou
Summary: It's Giggles birthday party. She always invites the most rich and popular of the happy tree friends. So why have people who have never even seen her invites before been invited? Flaky isn't sure, and when the guests are in terrible danger, who will save them?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again, here is the start of my new story, unlike the other one (Hidden, which was there to provide you with some laughs) this one has a few more elements of horror.**

**Chapter 1**

The invites were all written. A plie of crisp white envelopes lay on the table in Giggles bright pink bedroom. The guest list on lined paper next to the pile, with bright pink ticks next to every name.  
Giggles leaned back in her pink plastic chair, streched her legs then tweaked to bright pink bow in her hair, matching the blush of her soft fuzy cheeks. Her dark lashes flickering as she looked over her invites, the feeling of satifaction deep inside as she realised that she had finished.  
She sealed each envelope place a stamp on every one then raced down to the postbox.

This was going to be the best party.

The biggest party.

The most important.

Because it was hers.

Her friends would feel so lucky, they were still 'in'.  
The others, well, they never got one any other year, so why should this one be any different? It wasn't her fault that she knew that her parties weren't for everyone.

There was always some losers who passed her at school, thinking that she had made a mistake. No. Giggles never made a mistake. Sometimes (when she was in that kind of mood) she would slow her steps, stop and take in the tiny look of hope that lay in the poor saps eyes. How gullible.

It made the walking away afterwards so much funnier.

Everything was ready, everything was in place.

Music: Her boyfriend Cuddles and his band were playing.  
Food: Her mother was making the very best food, none of this quiche nonsense.  
Entertainment: A pool, Swedish sauna and cedar hideaway in the woods were all ready to go.

Giggles soft hand reached out to the pile of invites. She picked up the one on the top.

Miss Flaky Quills  
13 Applewood Way  
Happy Tree Town

A sly smile appeared on her lips.

This party was going to be a little different from last years. There would be a new way to entertain her guests.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A couple of days later**

Flaky stood on her front porch, then stared open mouthed at the card that lay innocently in her hand. She blinked then read the card for a second time.

It had to have been a mistake. Giggles never made a mistake on her guest list. she left it all year just so she could cross of anyone who wasn't 'suitable'. A tomboy like flaky would have never got on the list. So what was it doing in her letter box?

Going back into the house, she threw the ripped open envelope into the bin. She went into the kitchen and started to eat an apple.

She had never been on that guest list before. (_CRUNCH)_ She never expected to be on that guest list before. In fact (_CRUNCH)_ she had never even wanted to be on that guest list in the first place.

Giggles and her crowd were completly uneccesary to the planet anyway, they didn't contribute anything. Who needed them.(CRUNCH) Certainly not Flaky.

The telephone in the living room rang. Putting the half eaten apple down. She went to pick up the phone. She had barely asked who was there when a voice shouted  
"FLAKY! FLAKY IS THAT YOU? GUESS WHAT I'VE BEEN INVITED TO GIGGLE'S PARTY! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I DON'T BELIEVE IT! FLAKY?! FLAKY?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"  
All of this was said without a single breath being taken.

Nutty didn't recive many invatations so Flaky could picture him in his room shaking with exictement. Possibly holding the invite in a vice like grip. just in case it flies away.

Only Flaky had really got to know Nutty for the kind-hearted person he really was. It wasn't his fault that everyone else only ever saw him on a sugar high. They didn't see him copying down notes for Flaky when she was off sick. They didn't see him sharing his lunch because she had left hers at home (though he did keep all of the sweets) . They didn't know how much of a good friend Nutty could be.

"II CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I MEAN GIGGLES SMILED AT ME YESTERDAY BUT I DIDN'T REALISE..."

"Nutty calm down" Flaky had to interupt before this got out of hand. "I got invited too, which is strange. There is something funny going on if you ask me." This only added to Nutty's exitement.  
"YOU GOT ONE TOO! BRILLIANT! CAN WE GO TOGETHER?"

Flaky's little nose wrinked with disgust.  
"Me? You know how much I hate that crowd, I may have said that I was invited, but I never said that I was going." Flaky was unsure if the silence on the other end of the line was a good thing.  
"Look, Nutty it's probably a mistake..."  
"A MISTAKE, OH NO!"  
"And anyway, I have other things planned for that night. I'm cleaning my room."  
"THATS NOT FUNNY..."

Flaky felt as if she had kicked a puppy. A sugar high irritating puppy.

"I'm sorry Nutty, but I have to be honest, if it is a mistake then you will be even more hurt when you get there then have to go home."  
"WHAT IF IT'S NOT A MISTAKE? GIGGLES COULD HAVE INVITED US."  
"Sure and the deserts going to flood tomorrow."

Weren't they okay without needing the friendship of giggles? Didn't she already have enough fun with her friends? So what if they werent part of Giggle's crowd, they have a good time together.

"I'M GOING TO CALL HANDY AND SEE IF HE HAS AN INVITE TOO"

Nutty hung up.

The doorbell rang and Flaky yanked it open to see that Toothy and Lifty were at the door. They were an unusal pair. Total opposites, while Toothy was loud and outgoing Lifty never really spoke to anyone.

Lifty was the new kid at the the school. Won a scholarship and now lives with some relative. He never spoke about why he didn't live wit his parents and in turn we never asked.

Toothy took Lifty under his wing immedately as he didn't like seeing lifty on his own. After a while they became firm friends. Toothy's entusasum for Lifty made it easier for him to be execpted into the group. Lifty was quiet but he didn't appear to have a mean bone in his body.

As soon as Flaky saw the white cards in their hands she knew exactly why they knocked on her door.

Toothy had a gleam in his eyes, holding the invation with triumph. While Lifty only held his with is finger tips as if it was going to attack him. Was it the thought of attending the party that frightened him, or was he confused about getting an invite?

"So...you both got invites too." Flaky open the door to let them in.  
"Do you too know what on earth is going on?"

Toothy pushed past her, pulling Lifty in too.  
"We've been invited to the best party ever, thats whats going on. Finally! I mean it's about time Giggles noticed us. She must have come to her senses and realised that its not a party unless Toothy is invited! I mean, we aren't big deals at school, Flaky I'll admit that, but were not exactly nerds like Snuffles either!"

The phone rang again.

"I bet thats Handy. He probably just checked his mail. Bet you anything that he's has an invite too. Probably because of everything he has made in woodshop class this year. Giggles probably has a thing for workmen."

Well Toothy was right about it being Handy on the phone.

Handy had been invited to the party too. He also appeared to know that Petunia had yet again been invited too (like every year).

That did puzzle Flaky as Handy already had a girlfriend some rabbit named Curls. He has met her at the summer camp not too far from town. So far no one had seen Curls (Handy said it was because she lived too far away) but Handy spoke about her a lot. So why was he so exited that Petunia was going to be there?

"So who's going then?" Handy brought Flaky out of her thoughts.  
"Well, Nutty's pretty set on going,as is Toothy and if Toothy is going then Lifty will too. I'm not going though. I've got better thing to do. Anyway, come on over, and pick up Nutty on the way"

Flaky put the reciever down, no one was going to talk her into going to one of giggles parties.

No one!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I'm not going," Flaky firmly said to her four friends. "I can't stand Giggles or any of her so-called friends, and that house of her freaks me out. Just sitting there all pink looking down on us peasants. I hate it."

No one said anything. Giggles house, on top of that hill intimidated every one. No other house in Happy Tree Town was like it. But then again no one had as much money as Giggles' family. No one even came close.

It was Toothy who broke the silence. "You don't hate all of Giggle's friends. A certain green haired boy wouldn't like you saying that. And he'll be at the party Flaky."

Flaky knew who Toothy meant.

Flippy.

A few weeks ago Flaky was on the way to football practice and it started to chuck it down with rain. Flaky had forgotten her coat that day, so when Flippy was walking with his umbrella he invited flaky to share it. He even gave her his coat.  
He was the only person in Giggle's group who Flaky could have a civilised conversation with. Even if it was all about his dream of joining the army when he left school.

"Come on Flaky!" Toothy continued. "Whats not to like about you? I'm sure that Flippy will want to still be your friend!" Flaky couldn't help the small grin that appeared on her lips. "Besides Flaky, don't you want to know how the filthy rich live, I hear Giggles has stables, a heated pool and a sauna... Oh come on Flaky! It will be awesome! Please for us? It wouldn't be the same without you!"

Then Nutty and Handy started to put pressure on Flaky as well, as they couldn't believe Flaky's hesitation.

"My mum will have a fit," Flaky protested when all of her other excuses had been extinguished. "She thinks that parties are a waste of time and you lot keep me from my work just by arguing about this. Why don't you all go home so I can do my homework!"

"Flaky" Toothy firmly stated, "all your mum lets you do is you homework, surely she can't complain about one tiny party?"

Flaky could help but burst into laughter. "Tiny? Toothy calling Giggle's party tiny is like calling Buckingham Palace a cute little cottage!"

It was Lifty who managed to convince Flaky. "I think you should let Flaky make up her own mind." He quietly said when the others stopped talking. His face deadly serious. "Don't ever let anybody ever talk you into doing something that you don't want to do. "My Aunt keeps on telling me to make more effort socially. she is always saying that I spend too much time at home ever since I moved in with her."

Flaky watched Lifty, and wondered, not for the first time, what that sad look in his eye meant. Did he miss his old friends? His home? His mum (as we don't know why he lives with his aunt). Or was it starting school in the middle of the year, when everyone had already made their social groups?

But was it just sadness, as Flaky could swear that sometimes Lifty's eyes look just a bit... haunted.

Making up her mind flaky reluctantly announced "Okay, I'll go. I don't want to spoil any bodies fun. And, I suppose, that it could be alright. However, if anything doesn't seem to be right, I'm leaving early. even if you lot don't."

Cheers filled the room. Toothy grinned, "It was my argument about Flippy that did it, sometimes I'm so clever i scare myself!"

Although the question that kept Flaky from joining in on the fun was the real reason that Giggles, who might not even be able to match their names to their faces, had decided to invite them to her party.

Something just didn't seem right.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lifty's aunt was even more exited about the party then Lifty first thought. "That big house up on the hill?" She asked, invitation in her hands. "Oh, that's wonderful! What a perfect place to meet new friends."

Lifty slid back into his chair, "I'd rather stay at home, but..." He was about to say "But my friends are going so i guess I will too." but his aunt interrupted, "Stay home? Lifty are you crazy? This is your chance to make a new start, to make the right kind of friends..."

This time Lifty interrupted, "I already have the right kind of friends."

Though he already knew what his aunt thought of the only friends he had managed to make. Flaky was a nervous wreck" Nutty "a walking sugar bomb" Toothy "too ordinary" and Handy "hasn't got an ounce of common sense."

It astonished Lifty that after everything that happened in Rosebush Town, his aunt still expected him to have a normal life. Couldn't she see that all Lifty wanted to do was hide under his bed forever? Only his friends (who his aunt disapproved of) stopped him from shutting himself off from the world.

It had been Toothy's bubbly friendliness that pulled Lifty back into the real world. Then Handy with his I can do it attitude on life. Then Nutty who was so sweet (even on his sugar highs). And then Flaky who didn't speak to him at first (It was hard to tell who was the most shy at times). Slowly Lifty has been absorbed into their little group, he had thought that he would never trust anyone ever again, but they had proved him wrong.

He didn't want to make any new friends. He wanted to the ones he already had.

"You have to put the past behind you." Liftys aunt had said. "What happened back in Rosebush Town is done. You made a mistake. No one here knows what happened. So you can become part of any group you want." She waved the invite into Lifty's face, "and this is a ticket into a very good group."

Lifty stood up. "I've already met the best group in this town" he walked towards the doorway, "Don't worry I'll go to the party. but the friends I'm going with are the only friends I will need."

He then walked upstairs into his bedroom, then flopped down onto his bed, shivering with a sudden chill. If his new friends knew the truth about him, would they still like him.

Or would they turn on him like everybody else in Rosebush Town had?

Lifty was suddenly very tired. Hoping that he wouldn't be woken up, by his own screams caused by the same nightmare again he closed his eyes, until sleep took over him.

A few streets away, in his own bedroom, Handy thought about whether he needed to tell Curls about the party. He knew exactly how the phone call would go. She'd say "Oh, great Handy! A party! What fun!"

Then he would have to say that he wasn't really supposed to bring a guest, and she would blow a fuse if he went without her. She may even suspect that it wasn't true, that, if he really wanted to, he could bring someone. Which he probably could, as Giggles' place was so huge that. she would never know that Curls was even there.

He could take her if he really wanted to. But then again, he didn't want to. If he took Curls,m he would ruin any chance of letting Petunia know how he felt, something he still really wasn't sure about. When he went away to go to the summer camp, the only face he could see before he went to sleep was Petunia's.

That had surprised him. Petunia? Giggle's best friend Petunia? Since when had he ever even considered talking to anyone in that group, let alone asking any of them out.

But then he had met Curls, at the camp. She appeared to be more remote, more sophisticated than anyone else. He had been flattered that she had been interested in him above all the other guys, who had two hands. She helped him forget all about Petunia.

Now, even though she lived half an hour away in the next town, a little one called Rosebush Curls still thought of them as a couple. However the truth was, Handy had hardly missed her at all.

Then the first time he saw Petunia again, Curls slid further back into his mind.

Now Handy had tried, many times, to break things of with Curls. However each time she had overreacted so much. That Handy thought it easier to "spend some time apart" . Then let the problem drop. He was glad that Curls accepted that, because in truth, Handy was scared (though he would never admit it) of how angry Curls had got.

"You idiot" Handy told his reflection. "You know that you are just going to this party to see Petunia. Not Curls. Go be a man and tell her the truth! And make her realise that you really mean it."

He was going to do it.

Saturday night. He had been invited over to her house for dinner. If he told her before he went in he wouldn't be eating her food and he could tell her straight to her face, without causing much embarrassment. It should be a win, win situation, shouldn't it?


	5. Chapter 5

**AN- Sorry this next chapter is so short it was the only way of getting one out just after Christmas.**

Chapter 5

"Handy I'm warning you," Curls' voice, full of anger, threatened from the other end of the phone. "If you go to this party without me you will regret it! I told you last Saturday, you can't get rid of me so easily!"

In all honesty, Handy had been expecting this call ever since he spoke to her last Saturday. It didn't go as planned as soon as Handy suggested that they should "see other people" Curls had thrown a massive fit, showing Handy a side he a never seen before. It scared him a little that, he could be so wrong about someone.

"You think you can break it off, just like that?" More shouts came down the phone. It was hard, at that moment for Handy to see just what he saw in Curls.  
"You can't just tell me we've finished" more hisses came. "Or that you are going to a grand fancy party with all your friends and you haven't invited me. I won't stand for it Handy!"  
"Handy are you listening to me?"

Handy didn't back down. He kept insisting that the relationship between them was over and he was going to the party without her. "Look, Curls I have to go now, it's over between us. And anyway you wouldn't have a good time at this party anyway. You wouldn't know anybody there. That can't be much fun.

After a moment of awkward silence curls soft voice came down the line "You're not going to have a good time Handy. Not without me. That's a promise."

Handy put down the phone and set off to pick up Flaky and Toothy.

"I wish you would stop acting like you are going to a funeral Flaky." Toothy sighed. "What's the matter?"

Flaky wasn't certain but she felt that something was up. Why would Giggles invite Flaky and her friends, yet still treat them as if they didn't exist?

What was Giggles up to?

"It's party time!" Toothy cried, holding the door open for Flaky. Handy will be here in a couple of minutes. Lets go!"

Flaky sighed. It was far too late to back out now.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Flaky's heart sank as Handy's car approached the huge pink house on the top of the hill. It was even more intimidating than she had ever imagined.

The house was three stories high, and had tall pink pillars that said: no one unsuitable aloud to enter.

And far, far below lay happy tree town. Too far away, Flaky thought, for anybody to hear her screams. She then wondered why she had just thought of such a thing.

Perhaps it was to do with how dark the house was. Where were all the lights? Shouldn't a party have a welcoming glow?

This one didn't. There were only faint glimmers of pale yellow flickering from the windows, including the ones at the top of the house. It was as if the whole house was cloaked in a blanket of fog.

But there was no fog.

"Maybe they forgot to pay the electric bill." Toothy tried to break the silence.

No one laughed.

"What's with vampire's lair look?" Handy said. "It's too early for a Halloween party."

Handy parked and all five of them came out of the car. Although music and laughter filled the night, Flaky still felt a stab of fear. The house sounded like there was a party going on. But there was something...something wrong. She could feel it. An ice cold deep in her bones.

Toothy with an excited look in his face rang the doorbell.

A smiling Giggles answered the door. Her welcome was enthusiastic, however Flaky did notice that Giggles called none of them by their names.

That's probably because, Flaky thought, she doesn't have a clue what our names are. So why did she invite us? Who invites strangers to their party. Flaky didn't want to know the answer to that question.

"Must have given the servants the night off," she muttered to Lifty and Nutty.

Giggles mustn't have heard because she ushered them in without saying a word (well she did talk about the various decorations) She didn't though, say a thing about the lack of light as she led them through a noisy, crowded but dimly lit foyer the size of a good portion of Flaky's house.

The only light came from the many long thick pink candles on gold stands, stationed around the room. Flaky could see various shadows dancing across the hallway, stretching ahead of them, also lit by candles.

"I hope they have smoke detectors in this place," she murmured to Lifty.

The shadows added to Flaky's anxiety. Was Giggles aiming for a romantic setting? Or did she something else in mind? Something that would justify the nervous feeling at the bottom of Flaky's stomach.

Giggles immediately led them to a long narrow room paneled in rich dark wood. It too was only lighted by candles. The center of the room was deep in shadow. Only the long refreshment table at the side could be seen.

But Flaky could see that a dozen or more guests were seated quietly on a double column of wooden chairs placed back-to-back in the center of the room. Four chairs were unoccupied. Not five, as Flaky would have expected but four. Which one of them would be without a chair?

It was an odd sight and Toothy whispered to Flaky "Maybe we are going to play choo-choo train." Flaky gave no sign that she had heard. Her eyes were wide with doubt, and Toothy could see that she was regretting accepting her invitation.

The guests faces were lost in shadow. Flaky wondered if Flippy was in one of them. Enjoying one last party before he left for the army.

"Hey look at that" Handy said trying to point at something. Flaky followed his stub and saw high up on the wall a television and next to it a camera.

Were they being filmed?

"Their security system I bet" Handy said knowingly "They probably have that set up in every room of the house. Maybe even one outside."

That made sense. There would be plenty to steal in the house. In fact just Giggles wardrobe would be worth a small fortune.

Just then Giggles flipped a switch and the TV screen was filled with a video of Cuddles band.

But no sound came from the set.

"There isn't any sound up there" Giggles explained "because we are going to make our own entertainment. We are going to play musical chairs."

A wave a groans filled the room.

Flippy looked across the room and smiled at Flaky's skeptic look. When Flaky became aware she smiled back.

Giggles clapped her hands and called out "Okay everyone, you all know how to play right?" Without waiting for an answer she continued, "I'll turn the music on. Then you'll start marching around the chairs. When I stop the music, everyone grab a chair. One person will be left without one. That" Giggles said smugly "Will be the _loser_."

"Doesn't she make it sound like the loser will be taken out to the back and shot?" Lifty whispered to Flaky. Flaky smiled uncertainly and turned her attention back to Giggles.

Flaky was puzzled. Musical chairs wasn't the kind of entertainment she expected at a party held by the most sophisticated girl at Happy Tree High School. It was a kids game. There must be more to this than Giggle was letting on, Flaky decided.

"Each time the music stops, a chair will be removed," Giggles continued. "That way you will always be short of one chair. I only have five consolation prizes, so when five people are out of the game, it ends. Any questions?"

At the phrase "five people" Flaky's heart tightened. She and her four friends had come out tonight. There was no way Giggles would know which five people would lose, was there?

"I thought that we were going to dance" a Petunia whined. "And it's too dark in here for a stupid kids' game. We'll be crashing into each other. Do we really have to do this?"

"Yes we do", Giggles said firmly, moving to a CD player sat on one end of the refreshment table. "It'll be fun! And you have to listen carefully, because I'm not giving you any warning before I stop the music. Take your places please!"

Although there were more moans and some muttered grumbling, the guests lined up around the double row of chairs. Flaky glanced at Handy, even as a child he had hated this game because the others could easily push him out of the way, without him even being able to fight back (one of the many disadvantages of having no arms). Handy was always the first to lose.

And tonight was no exception. When the music stopped, Handy was pushed of his chair with ease. He was even round a corner to make it even easier for everybody else.

Flaky felt sorry for him. It was a dumb game anyway. Someone always got left out. She watched Handy struggle to play the good sport as his signature angry face kept appearing under his clearly fake smile.

"Too bad you lose!" Giggles broke the silence. And then she added with a sly grin. "Well there are winner and then there are...losers." As she said it her eyes swept over Flaky and her friends.

Flaky shivered.

"You cold?" Flippy, who found his sway next to her chair asked. "Want my jumper?"

Unsmiling Flaky shook her head no. Smile or no smile, Flippy had been known to hang around Giggles, and so could be every bit as treacherous as their hostess, who had come up with this cruel game. Why had she let Toothy talk her into coming tonight?

"Lammy" Giggles asked "take..." She looked at Handy and asked, "What was your name again? So many guests..."

Flaky made a face of distaste.

"Handy" came the irritated answer.

"Oh, yes, Handy, that's right. Lammy take Handy here and give him the consolation prize I told you about. Take your torch. It's on the table beside the door. While your gone, the rest of us will get on with our fun and games. Go with Lammy, Handy. She has a nice prize for you. See you later."

Handy hesitantly followed Lammy.

But when Lifty lost during the next round and was promptly led away by Lammy who had returned (without Handy) and then Nutty found himself without a chair in the third round, Flaky realised that no matter how quick she was, she was not going to win this game.

Because it was clear that when Giggles had said that five people would be losers, she had been talking about Flaky and her friends. I was wrong Flaky thought, thinking that Giggles wouldn't know who was going to lose. The only time when her finger pressed that stop button was when one of us is rounding a corner and can't possible grab a chair in time.

Providing losers for this game couldn't be the only reason they were invited to the party, Flaky thought nervously. That was a ridiculous idea. Giggles had plenty of guests who could have failed to grab a chair when the music stopped. She wouldn't have invited a group of five strangers solely for that purpose.

Flaky felt her stomach recoil. Did that mean that more was in store for them?

What...was...going...on?

And why hadn't Handy returned?

Whatever it was that was happening, Flaky was sure that she or Toothy would be the next people to find themselves without a chair.

She tried in vain to get Toothy's attention. But, cheeks flushed, eyes bright, her other friend was concentrating solely on the game. Flaky could see how determined Toothy was at not being the next person to leave to room.

She might as well relax, Flaky thought as Giggle's hand pushed the button and the music stopped. If I lose this round Toothy, is sure to lose the next one. We're the only two left from our group.

It was Toothy who got caught when the music stopped. Flaky watching Giggles carefully, saw her finger resting on the button, and then saw it go down the second Toothy reached the end of the column of chairs. There was no question in Flaky's mind that the motion was precisely timed for Toothy's arrival at that particular place.

But why?

Disappointment was clearly shown on Toothy's face. But always the good sport, he shrugged and followed Lammy out of the room. Flaky glanced at Giggles. Handy should be back by now. Lifty and Nutty were both missing too. Giggles had made it sound like the consolation prizes were nearby. So why hadn't any of her friends returned yet? And how was Flaky going to find them in this huge house without lights when this stupid game was over?

She knew one thing for sure. The very second she did find her friends, they were leaving, whether Toothy liked it or not. They'd obviously been invited for a reason, and simply losing at this game couldn't be all of it. There was more ahead of them, and Flaky was sure that whatever Giggles had in mind for her and her friends, it wasn't good.

They weren't going to hang around and find out what that something was. Not if Flaky had anything to say about it!

She wasn't the least bit surprised when she found herself without a chair the next time the music stopped.

With one thoroughly disgusted glance in Giggles direction and an annoyed one at Flippy, who looked mildly puzzled, Flaky followed Lammy out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Handy wouldn't have minded leaving the room when he had lost at musical chairs if Petunia had come with him, after all didn't she say that she would rather be dancing?

Following Lammy he told himself that he still had the whole night ahead of him. He'd collect his prize and go back to give Petunia that dance, as the game should be over by then.

Personally if he were having a party he wouldn't include childish games like musical chairs. He would have thought that Giggles was far too sophisticated for such a silly game.

You could never tell about people.

Lammy opened a door and gestured Handy inside. In the pale yellow glow of her torch he could see that the room they'd entered was huge and filled with expensive furniture. Antiques maybe. The walls covered with silver and the pink carpet soft and thick.

A set of doors stood half open beside him.

"In there," Lammy said curtly, "your prize is in the closet, you can get it yourself."

Inpatient to return Handy stepped inside.

It was dark, as he expected. However, what he hadn't expected was the sight of a video camera, high up on the wall, its round unblinking eye looking down upon him. An avid camera buff, Handy was wishing once again that he had hands, so that he could grab the camera to take a better look at it. Then the door snapped shut.

"Hey...what?" He began, turning around to face the closed door. "What's going on?"

There was no answer.

All he could do was stare at the safety handle that was inside the closet (put there to stop someone from being trapped in). He could sense it mocking him, as he knew that he wouldn't be able to use it to get out. And who ever trapped him in there knew that too.

It was then that Handy remembered something else that caught his attention when he first entered the room. He noticed it because it seemed so out of place.

Directly outside the closet, pinned onto the wall, had been a roll of bright orange stickers. Thinking that the rich must have strange tastes, he'd dismissed the odd sight, thinking that it had nothing too do with him.

Now he wasn't too sure.

Maybe, in view of this strange party, its bizarre game, and now his been held captive in a closet, maybe that roll of stickers did have something to do with him.

But what?

Lifty had no intention of following Lammy any further than out of the room. When they reached the foyer he would bolt for the front door and escape.

He never should have come. He didn't belong here. It was too creepy. Not at all like a party. It was too dark, too quiet too...weird. He'd never attended a party like this one, and he never wanted to ever again. Giggles had a strange idea about what festive meant.

He had to get out of this place.

And this silly, childish game of musical chairs had given him the perfect opportunity.

But when they left the room and entered the crowded, shadowed entry hall Lammy closed surprisingly strong fingers around Lifty's left wrist and said, "Not that way. This way!" and began tugging Lifty toward the wide curving staircase.

A deeply ingrained horror of causing attention to himself in a crowd forced Lifty away from the relief of the front door and up the stairs with his companion, who hadn't released her grip. Better to go with Lammy and figure out another way to leave than cause a fuss and make everyone stare at him.

He couldn't bare that.

He'd had enough of that in Rosebush Town to last a lifetime.

After several silent minutes of climbing stairs, Lifty asked, "Where are you taking me?"

He received no answer.

Tiny butterflies of unease began fluttering inside Lifty. Maybe he should have left when he had the chance.

After a few minutes, they reached a tall, white, paneled door. While Lammy was bending to insert a key, Lifty noticed something peculiar. Next to the door was a roll of dark green stickers hanging on the wall. Not the sort of thing you would expect in a beautifully decorated mansion.

Strange.

The door opened and Lammy stepped inside. "C'mon in," she said without a smile. "Your prize package is in here. When you have opened it, you can come back to the party. I have to get back now."

Lifty had no intention of returning to that party.

Ever. Still, he'd let Lammy think he did. It was easier that way. He'd just slip out as soon as Lammy had gone downstairs.

But as Lifty moved into the room. A wide, low-ceilinged space with a few lighted candles scattered about a set of double French doors in the center of the far wall. Lammy spun around and left the room so quickly that Lifty felt a slight breeze.

In the split second, the door closed, a key turned and Lifty's heart took a dive. Locked in? No! No, he couldn't be. It made no sense.

Hoping that he was mistaken, Lifty raced to the door and grasped the knob. He turned it. Nothing happened. He shouted "Open this door! Open it right now! Let me out of here!"

There was only silence.

Disbelieving Lifty faced the solid slab of wood that held him prisoner.

This couldn't be happening.

It couldn't but it was.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING" Nutty asked. He couldn't see very well. Lammy was being very selfish with the torch, keeping it too far in front of Nutty for it to be of any use.

They seemed to be walking for a long time. Why were Giggles consolation prizes so far away from the party?

"Hurry up!" came Lammy's answer.

Nutty tried to go faster, however in the dim light he tripped and would have fallen if Lammy hadn't heard his gasp. She grabbed Nutty's arm and hauled him upright.

Suddenly irritated Nutty thought, what are we doing outside in the first place? The party is inside.

Instead of thanking Lammy for saving him from a fall, Nutty said "I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE PARTY, GIVE ME A MINUTE IN THE FRIDGE, THAT CAN BE MY CONSOLATION PRIZE." Nutty had attended very few parties, but the ones he had been to had never included being whisked away before anything got started. Something very weird was going on.

"Sorry" Lammy said "I have my orders. I have to take you where Giggles told me to. Come on, we are almost there. I wish that you would hurry up!"

Defense was not one of Nutty's qualities. So he continued to follow Lammy. But he was a little scared by what was going on.

Where all big parties like this?

Tears started to form in Nutty's eyes.

It was very dark outside with no moon. The usual cold front had arrived, turning a crisp autumn day into a cold night. The path Lammy followed was rough, dotted with small stones and sticks, and there were strange noises coming from the woods on both sides of the path.

Nutty, defiant or not, decided he'd had enough and was trying to summon enough courage to say so, when Lammy announced, "Here we are! This is your spot."

His spot? What did that mean?

"I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE PARTY," Nutty said again, but much more bravely this time. " I DON'T WANT TO BE OUT HERE. TAKE ME BACK!" He hoped that Lammy hadn't detected the fear in his voice. She might make fun of him. Nutty couldn't stand that on top of everything else.

Ignoring Nutty's demand, Lammy urged, "Oh, go on in! Giggles is in there, waiting for you. She took a short-cut to beat us here. She's got a surprise for you. Go ahead!"

Nutty's ears picked up. A surprise? For him?

Hesitantly, but with a smile on his face, Nutty stepped inside the door that Lammy held open.

It was dark inside, so he couldn't see much, and he hesitated just beyond the threshold. The room felt empty. But he waited for Giggles to flood the room with light and shout "surprise!"

When that didn't happen, Nutty turned back toward Lammy "Where..." he began.

But his question was interrupted by the slam of the door in his face. Startled Nutty reached out for the knob to pull it open.

And heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning a lock.

Threading her way though the crowd, Lammy led Toothy up a wide, winding staircase to the second floor and then down a long hallway carpeted in beige. They made no sound as they walked along the corridor.

"Where on Earth are we going?" Toothy demanded, annoyed. He was fine with losing the game (he was after all a fair person), but the amount of time that it has so far taken to get the consolation prize was ridiculous. He lived his life and got annoyed when other things stopped him. "Are my friends going to be there?"

No answer came from Lammy who continued on down the hall to its end, where she stopped and pushed open a heavy door.

"In here!" Came the only reply. "Hurry up! I have to get back."

Toothy wasn't going to enter a strange room without making sure his friends were in there first. So when he looked into an empty room he started to turn around.

But he failed to notice Lammy's hand. He stumbled back into the room and fell to the floor. The door slammed shut.

Toothy had no idea where he was, but he knew one thing for sure.

He was a prisoner.

Flaky didn't like being ordered around by someone she didn't know that well. It made her feel uneasy. The only reason she was keeping her cool was because she was being led to her friends were being kept.

But the narrow little room that Lammy pointed out to her was empty.

"Where..." Flaky began, but before she could finish her question, Lammy was gone. The door clicked shut behind her and a lock snapped. Flaky was trapped alone.

The only thing that she was able to do was curl into a ball and try to convince herself that everything was going to be alright.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Okay," Giggles announced when Flaky left the room, "game's over! We're going to do something else now. Put all the chairs away and grab a bite to eat before starting the new game."

"What about the people who left the room?"Flippy asked as people began putting the chairs against the wall. "Relax, Flippy You'll find out in a minute. Help us put some chairs against the wall, will you?"

When order had been restored to the room, Giggles stood in front of her guests and pushed a button on the panel beside her. Immediately, Cuddles' band disappeared from the TV screen.

"Now for our new game," Giggles said. "Watch the screen please. There are other sets in all the other rooms and on the terrace, so everyone can see,"

She then pressed another button on the panel.

Instantly, the screen filled with Nutty's head, swiftly turning round, trying to take in his surroundings. A very confused look painted onto his face.

Giggles pressed the button again. Nutty's face disappeared. It was replaced an instant later by Lifty's. You could see his lips moving but no sound was coming out. It was hard to tell if he was doing it out of fear or confusion.

Handy's face appeared next You could clearly see that her was not impressed. Narrowed eyes and mouth clamped tightly shut. Handy wasn't in the least bit amused.

Toothy's face came next. You could clearly see the confusion Half of him looked like he was waiting for someone to pop out and tell him that it was all a joke. While the other half looked like he was trying not to cry.

Flaky's face came next. Her eyes wide with uncontrolled panic. She seemed to be breathing quite heavily through her mouth, as if she was struggling for air. She was obviously terrified.

"Wow. She is loosing it" A voice whispered.

As each picture had been a close up of the missing guest faces, it gave no clue as to where they were. Which was the general idea.

With a glint in her eyes, Giggles said, "We're going to have a people hunt!"

As she waited for the general reaction, the screen continued to repeat the display of the missing guests faces'.

Reaching out once again for the panel, Giggles switched on a microphone that sent her voice all the way through the mansion.

"Listen up everyone," she called, "this is your hostess speaking. Pay attention!"

After waiting a moment to ensure that everyone could hear, Giggles continued. "This party is going to be a little different. We're going to have a very special... treasure hunt! We're going to hunt for the people who are on the screens in every room. It'll be a blast!"

There were murmurs from the crowd, but no one said anything aloud. Flippy was frowning, his arms folded. But he continued to listen to Giggles' words.

"There are two sets of cards to help you," she said, holding up two thick bundles of small cardboard rectangles. "One set is yellow the other is white. I'll give some to everyone along with some torches." She beamed at her guests and added "See? I've thought of everything!"

Flippy's frown deepened.

"The yellow cards will give you clues about where they are hidden. You have to figure out what each clue means." Giggles laughed. "There not that hard trust me."

Someone groaned, "sounds like a test to me. We get enough of this kind of stuff at school. I thought that this was a party."

Ignoring the complaint, Giggles went on. "The second batch of cards, the white ones, have five little boxes outlined in black. At each of the five hiding places, which are all in the house or out in the grounds somewhere, there is a roll of stickers on the wall, each a different colour. When you find a hiding place, peel one sticker off the roll and place it onto one of your boxes on the white card. The first person to fill their card gets a big, fat gift certificate to every shop in the mall." Giggles took a deep satisfied breath. "Everyone got that?"

Someone said "Not me! I don't get it, are we supposed to bring the missing people back here?"

"No! Of course not!" Giggles answered sharply. "That would ruin the game. Leave them exactly where they are. Just bring me the stickers."

"Then it's not a people hunt, it's a stupid sticker hunt!"

"Look" Giggles explained. "If you brought the person back with you, then no one else would be able to find them! The game would be over too fast that way. It would be spoiled. Making you collect stickers is a much better way."

Flippy stepped forward. "What makes you think that they want to stay where you put them?"

"Who cares what they want? They can't leave, silly! Give me some credit, Flippy. There're locked in of course."

Flippy's mouth fell open. He stared at Giggles. "You've got some of your guests locked up? Are you nuts? Giggles that's against the law, for God's sake. Not to mention disgusting!"

Giggles waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh lighten up, Flippy! Where's your sense of humor? This is a party! It's only for a little while anyway, and I didn't put them in dangerous places. There not tied up or gagged or anything. They're fine."

The look of disbelief remained on Flippy's face. "You're kidding right? You invited people here to hold prisoner? What is wrong with you Giggles? This isn't funny."

"Oh don't look at me like I'm the criminal and you're the judge. They'll think its a hoot, wait and see. And if they don't" Giggles added with a shrug, "It's no great loss." She laughed, "I just wont invite them next year."

Flippy's mouth tightened. This is the only reason you invited them isn't it? To use them in this stupid game. Because you wouldn't have dared tried it with your own crowd."

"You're part of that crowd. Flippy" Giggles reminded him.

Flippy stood up straight. "Giggles tell me something, did these guys know ahead of time that they were invited as part of the entertainment?" Before Giggles could answer, Flippy looked up at Flaky's terrified face on the TV screen. "I'd say from the look on her face. That they didn't know." He shook his head in disgust. "What a horrible idea Giggles. Forget it! I will not take part in this 'people hunting'!"

To Giggles' annoyance others in the room began echoing Flippy's objections to the new game. Cries of "Too weird!" And "Get real Giggles!" reached her ears.

But there was always people eager to do Giggles' bidding, and in no time at all she was surrounded by guests, small torches in hand, reaching out for the little cards, ready to begin the hunt. People from the other rooms came to ask for cards, teasing Giggles for hints about the locations of the hidden guests, which she refused to give.

"You've got your clues," she pointed out, "and now you are on your own. Better get going if you want to be the first one here with a card full of stickers."

When most of the crowd had gone Flippy walked towards Giggles. "You can't be serious about this. Those five-" glancing up towards the screen.

"Oh relax!" Giggles regarded Flippy with mocking eyes. None of them is the least bit important. Actually I'm doing those nobodies a big favor. No one would even know that they were here if I hadn't let them star in my little game. They should thank me." She then added, " whats the matter Flippy, afraid you wont win?"

Then still smiling, she walked out the room.

Alone, Flippy looked at the cards in his hands. Then he glanced up at the screen. That girl, Flaky, wasn't it? Looked like she was about to faint. He couldn't blame her as just looking at the recording of her trapped in that room was setting of his claustrophobia.

Someone had to get them out of there and fast. Flippy began to study his cards.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Flaky came to her senses, she pulled her self up and looked at her surroundings. Every so often loud music would play and make her jump. Peering into the darkness she looked for anything that may be causing the music before she had a heart attack. Covering her ears for protection, she stumbled round the room on her shaky legs.

Her heart seemed to stop as she tripped over something metal and fell against the hardwood table. Knocking something else over. The loud clatter made her jump. After a while she realised it was a cymbal. Then after walking straight into a drum kit and then leaning on the keys on a piano, she realised that she must be in a music room.

Get a grip! Flaky told herself as she began looking for a way out.

The room was windowless, probably to protect the instruments from the sun. So there was no chance of opening a window and climbing through it.

Searching for a light switch, Flaky discovered an intercom unit. Relief washed over her. If her voice could be carried to another room, someone would let her out.

But when she flipped the switch, nothing happened. She flipped it five times, panicking more each time. Still nothing happened.

The wires had been disconnected.

Flaky sat down and took deep breaths before she had a panic attack.

"It's just a joke," she said into the darkness. Trying to convince herself.

Why? Why did Giggles do this? And where where her friends?

Toothy was pacing up and down the narrow, tunnel like room. The tall skinny space illuminated by fluorescent tubing overhead. On either side of him were floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with boxes, cans, jars and bottles of food and household supplies.

At least he wouldn't stave if Giggles forgot about him in this strange little cubbyhole. There was enough food in here to keep a family of five fed for a year.

Toothy fought the fear with all his might. He didn't frighten easily. He was used to both pulling and receiving various practical jokes. Wasn't that what this was? It couldn't be anything more than that could it?

Still it was a stupid joke. And cruel. Asking people to a party and then yanking them away from it. He had always known that Giggles was mean. Everyone knew it. But kidnapping? Locking people into little rooms? He didn't have any words for that.

Toothy had tried the door at least a dozen times after Lammy had left, positive that it was simply stuck. But he finally had to face the truth: the door was locked.

When I get back upstairs, Toothy told himself, I'm going to yank that stupid bow off Giggles stupid, spoiled, mean head. And I'd like to see anyone try to stop me!

A sound from behind stopped his train of thought. The door! It was opening. Someone was going to get him!

Well, that hadn't been to bad. He'd only been locked in for about five minutes. There was still time to party. After he had found his friends.

Maybe he would leave Giggles' bow alone. Why ruin the whole evening because of some cruel, stupid prank?

Toothy was about to turn around and give his rescuer a grateful smile of thanks when, without warning an arm came from behind him, encircling his neck in an iron grip, and something soft was thrust into his mouth, gagging him.

He had no chance to cry out or fight back.

In the next second, Toothy was shoved against the shelves, a knee forced into his back, his face squashed into a row of cereal boxes as a rough scratchy rope was wound around his hands, pinned behind his back.

Suddenly he was being dragged backward, propelled by the arm around his neck. Struggling frantically against the painful grip, Toothy was yanked along the narrow corridor, to the open steel door, up stone steps, outside a side door into a dark, deserted area beside the house, and then up a grassy slope leading away from the mansion.

He could hear the music and laughter coming from inside. He tried desperately to scream, to shout, to cry out for help. But the gag blocked all sounds.

Still kicking, still struggling, he was half pulled, half dragged up the hill some distance, and the party sounds gradually faded away.

It was very dark outside with no moon. There were no lights this far from the house. Toothy's eyes searched the darkness widely for help, but he saw nothing, nobody.

His attacker made no sound.

Toothy struggled to think. Fear was engulfing him in heavy black waves. He had to fight it. If he panicked, he didn't stand a chance.

Giggles? Was it Giggles dragging him away from the party? Who else would know where Lammy had taken him?

It wasn't Lammy dragging him, Toothy was positive of that. Lammy was quite short.

But Giggles wasn't.

This was no practical joke. The vise like grip on his neck, the shove into the shelves, the harsh rope around his wrists, the gag in his mouth, the humiliation of being dragged against his will. This person meant him serious harm.

He had never felt so helpless.

They reached the top of the hill and crossed a wide stretch of cement that Toothy decided was probably a driveway. A huge wooden building loomed above them in the dark. A garage?

Toothy's attacker yanked the small door at the side of the building open. Then he was thrown inside.

The smell of gasoline mingled with stale air assaulted his nose as he plunged into the darkness. So he'd been right. It was a garage. Windowless pitch black and chilly. He could barely make out the shape of two or three large cars.

The inside of the garage was as black and cold as a tomb.

Toothy shivered.

His captor shoved him roughly against the rear door of one of the cars, while opening the door on the drivers side.

Toothy felt tears of frustration, anger and fear stinging his eyelids. He couldn't bare to give his attacker the satisfaction of seeing him crumble. But he was scared, so very, very scared...

If the gag was removed somehow, would anyone hear his screams?

No they wouldn't.

A terrible sense of isolation rose within him. He kicked out wildly, but it was no good. Before he realised what was happening he was lifted under the arms and tossed into the car, landing in a heap, face down onto the seat.

There was a fumbling sound behind him, near the steering wheel. In spite of his hands still being tied around his back. Toothy managed to struggle upright and scrambled backward until he was squeezed against the passenger door. He searched for a door handle. If he could push the door open and throw himself out of the car, maybe he could escape...

There was no door or window handle. He could only find the holes where they had been. They had been removed.

How could he get out of the car with no way to open the doors or windows?

A harsh laugh echoed in his ears. It came from the same area where the fumbling was going on, near the steering wheel. What was happening?

Toothy shrank further away from the sound, squeezing himself against the door. What was his captor doing? Something horrible, he knew that. Something he never in his wildest dreams would happen.

And he didn't know how to stop it.

Toothy sat paralysed, frozen in terror, struggling to think clearly.

Then the dark shape of his attacker grunted with satisfaction as the engine turned over and caught. It roared briefly before settling down to an ominous hum.

The shadowy figure pulled away, out of the car. A second later, the car door began to close.

Toothy flung himself at it, hoping to keep it from shutting. He managed to crack his forehead on the sill as the door swung shut, imprisoning him.

While he half lay, half sat on the seat, reeling with shock and fear, the figure disappeared into the darkness. He heard, rather than saw the garage door open then shut. He was alone.

He had been left there to die.

In the mansion, the television screens throughout the house continued to display the faces of Flaky and her friends.

But when Nutty's face vanished, Toothy's face failed to replace it. Instead, there was only blackness.

No one noticed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Held captive in a music room, Flaky felt her head getting heavy. She knew that she had to find a way out.

It was clear that Giggles' only reason for inviting them is to trick them.

Was Flippy in on the gag, too? Remembering the smile that he sent her before the game of musical chairs, Flaky felt tears of anger and fear running down her cheeks.

"What am I doing here?" she cried aloud, getting up off the floor. I fell for that invitation, just like those others did.

Were were the others? If Giggles had to isolate them from the party, why couldn't she at the very least have imprisoned them all together instead of separating them?

Flaky's fear stirred her to action. She still had her bag her here. Her purse was in there. Hunting through its contents, she smiled as she felt the cool, smooth plastic of her debit card.

Flaky had seen people open doors with their credit or debit cards before. It was in fact Lifty who taught her how because she always forgot her key. It didn't always work. But it had to this time, Flaky thought.

It did work. As she left the room and closed the door firmly behind her, she let out the breath that she didn't even know that she was holding.

Looking down the long hall, Flaky saw that it was empty. Party sound echoed distantly along its length, but Giggles had apparently posted no guards.

In a house this big there had to be a back staircase.

There was. It too was unguarded, inviting Flaky to slip down and escape.

Flaky hurried down the stairs and went through a side door, and in a couple of minutes made it to a grassy slope beside the mansion, on her way to the long, winding driveway and home, to her mother's "I told you so."

Although there were people hurrying down the lantern lighted grounds, none paid any attention to the girl heading purposely down the slope. They seemed to be caught up in some kind of game, scurrying here and there, calling out to each other, using words that led Flaky to believe that they were on some kind of hunt. Another one of Giggles's idiotic games?

Her anger had carried her only as far as the edge of the lawn when uneasiness about leaving her friends took over. She didn't know the house and ground's and didn't have the faintest idea on where to start looking for the four... but she couldn't leave without them. At least, not until she was sure that they were okay.

Biting her lip, Flaky turned around and retraced her steps, reluctantly walking back towards the house.

Nutty had never had a reason in his life to be unhappy, as long as he had sugar he was fine. However right now he was more miserable than ever, on the night that had earlier filled him with nothing but breathless anticipation.

Why had he been taken from the party and locked in this place?

What was this place? It was so dark. He couldn't see a thing. It smelled faintly like the barn on Lumpy's farm. He never liked that farm, the spiders and aliens freaked him out.

But barns were big and wide, with huge ceilings and wide doors. The door that he'd come in was a regular door. A regular locked door, he reminded himself.

Why was he here? Why wasn't he at the party that he'd been invited to attend?

Nutty, using his hands as a guide, felt his way through the darkness and discovered a window. Even if he could get out somehow, he wasn't sure if he could make it back to the house. It was completely black outside. Without lights in the mansion, how could he find it? They'd come an awfully long way through the woods.

What kind of person was Giggles anyway, to invite people to a party and then hide them away, lock them up?

A terrible person. A mean person.

A click from the opposite door brought Nutty's head up. Someone was coming!

Nutty stood up, hope and expectancy flooding from his face. He was being rescued. The game was over. And it hadn't been so terrible, after all. Now he could find his friends and have the good time that he'd expected since the invite first arrived.

The door opened.

"BOY, AM I GLAD TO SEE YOU!" Nutty cried, hurrying forward through the darkness. "THANKS FOR COMING TO GET ME I THINK THAT I WAS GOING TO GO CRAZY IN HERE."

"No problem," his rescuer said with a smile. "Giggles said that you have been a very good sport. She wants to make it up to you, Just follow me, okay?"

Smiling with relief, Nutty followed eagerly.

"Hey, Giggles" a boy called to his hostess, who was dancing in the center of the room, "what's with the TV? There are only two faces up there now, what happened to the other three?"

Giggles shrugged. "Who knows? The systems probably got screwed up somewhere. Happens all the time. The cameras quit working and my dad throws a fit. It's no bug deal. Forget about it!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Flippy studied the first of the five clues printed on the little yellow cards in his hand.

_Just hangin' around,_  
_Tie-in' one on,_  
_Creasin' my pants,_  
_Losin' my shirt,_  
_Shoe-in' everyone away!_

It made no sense. Flippy shook the card in anger. "Come on," he muttered, "figure it out!" At this rate, it would take him all night to free all of the hidden guests. They must be going nuts, wherever they were! How could Giggles come up with such a cruel "game"? He'd always known that she was selfish-but this time she had gone too far.

Handy was thoroughly disgusted with the way the party had begun. Here he was, stuck in this dumb place, alone, and he hadn't even had the chance to talk to Petunia yet! What a bust! Maybe Flaky had been right all along. Maybe they shouldn't have come.

The camera high up on the wall was driving him nuts. He hated the fact that he couldn't pick things up. That he was forced into a small space, that anybody else could easily just turn the safety knob and walk out. But he wouldn't panic, he couldn't give his captors that satisfaction. That was probably Giggles joke, hide people and watch their reactions on film. Then Giggles and all her friends could sit around and watch people go bonkers. They'd probably think that it was hilarious.

He felt like a fool. Giggles idea of a joke was sick! But he only had himself to blame. He should have known better than to think that the five of them would be welcome at this party.

_"You'll be sorry if you go to that party without me Handy." _Curls had said that on the phone.

Handy drew in a sharp breath of surprise. What had made him think of that? Curls wasn't at this party. She wasn't even in town. Or was she?

When Flaky returned to the house, the level of noise had decreased. The crowd had thinned. She had passed several couples on her way up the steps. They were all holding something in their hands as they left the house and chattering about hiding places.

Flaky ignored them. Whatever they were up to, she wasn't playing. All she wanted to do was find her friends and get out of this mad house.

But by the time she had reached the foyer, where half a dozen couples were arguing over tiny yellow and white cards, her curiosity was overwhelming.

"What's going on?" she asked a rabbit, "What's with the cards?"

"People hunt!" he shouted over the music and loud voices. "Up there, see?" He pointed to the television set situated high up on a wall.

Looking up, Flaky could see Lifty's face on the screen.

"Lifty?" Flaky said slowly. "You're hunting for Lifty?"

"I guess," the rabbit answered. "Don't know any of there names. Just their faces. We're supposed to figure out these clues, on these little cards here." He tapped the packet with his hands. "Boy, I'll tell you, they're tough! That Giggles..."

Hardly breathing Flaky kept her eyes on the television set. Lifty's face disappeared then Handy's face replaced it. He looked annoyed.

When his image faded away there was only darkness.

"That's strange," the rabbit said frowning. "There's supposed to be five people up there, like there were before. Now there's only two, what happened to the other three?"

With sickening certainty, Flaky realised she was one of the missing three. Her face had been up there for everyone to see. Embarrassment and shame made her knees weak. Giggles had been filming them!

I saw a camera in that music room, she thought, but I never suspected...

Annoyance heavy in his voice, the rabbit said, "I bet somebody's letting those guys out. That's why nothings on the screen. I'd better find Giggles and tell her someone's screwing things up. She said that we weren't supposed to let anyone out, just collect the stickers. I hope the games not ruined now."

Any other time and Flaky would have found it amusing that he was looking straight at her and he still didn't recognise her as one of the faces previously on the screen. He was too annoyed about having the game 'ruined' to really look at Flaky.

But she couldn't find any humor in what was going on now.

Overhearing his comment, someone behind them said "Giggles already knows. She says the cameras are screwed up. Don't worry about it, that's what she said."

He shrugged in response. "Maybe. But I'm not going to keep playing if someones letting those guys out.I'm going to find Giggles and tell her to have someone check out those cameras."

After he left, Flaky remained transfixed, her feet rooted to the floor. The only two faces appearing on the screen above her were Handy's and Lifty's. Why not Nutty's? And where was Toothy's face? Where the cameras really not working? Or was there some other reason why all four of her friends weren't there?

I know why I'm not there, Flaky thought. Because I escaped. Did Nutty? And Toothy? If they did, where are they now?

Forcing herself to snap out of her paralysis, Flaky tore her eyes from the set and glanced around the foyer. The crowd had thinned noticeably. She supposed that they had gone off for there 'people hunt.' The thought sickened her.

Spotting two small piles of yellow and white cards on a table at the edge of the room. Flaky moved towards them. Picking up both piles, eyes blazing, she quickly scanned them. She guessed that the black lined boxes were where you had to put the coloured stickers, and that the yellow ones were 'clues'.

They didn't look all that hard.

Okay. All right. This cruel stupid game was already underway. She couldn't stop it. Too late for that.

What she could do was go to the hiding places and set her friends free. But... there was a problem. She wasn't worried about figuring out all the clues. Giggles may be rich, but she wasn't that smart. Still, being able to figure out the clues wasn't going to be enough. This house, these grounds, were completely unfamiliar to her. It would take her all night to find her friends.

It was then, when she spotted Flippy. Alone in a corner, head bent over cards identical to the ones she was holding.

Flippy was in Giggles's crowd. He must know the property. Would he help her search?

Flippy was just about to give up on the first clue and seek out Giggles, forcing her to reveal all five hiding places when a voice behind him said "It's a mans closet."

He turned to find... Flaky? Standing in front of him.

"How did you..." he began about to ask her how she'd freed herself, but she didn't let him finish.

"See? Hangin' is hangers, then ties and shirts and pants and shoes...it's a mans closet. So it's probably upstairs. But," Flaky added firmly, looking directly into Flippy's eyes, "I'm not playing this stupid game. I'm going to find my friends and let them out, and then we are leaving. Now that I know what Giggles is up to, it makes me sick! So if all you want to do is collect stickers, do it with someone else, okay? But I need your help because I don't know my way round this place, and I'd cut my throat before I'd ask Giggles for help."

Flaky didn't know who was more surprised, her or Flippy. She had never ever had an outburst like that before in her entire life.

But then she had never found herself in this situation before either.

"I'm not playing," Flippy said seriously, returning her direct gaze. "I intended to let them out before you showed up. I hope you believe that, because it's the truth."

Flaky hesitated. It didn't really matter whether she believed him or not, did it? The important thing was finding her friends, not how she felt about Flippy.

But knowing that she had someone to help her in her search eased, slightly, the grim expression on her face.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" she said. "The closet must be upstairs, lets go!"

Like Toothy, Handy breathed a sigh of relief when the sudden sound of the door opening. Someone was going to get him. The first thing he would do was find Petunia. Then they could spend the rest of the night together, if that was okay with her...

Handy never saw the person who tossed a black cloth over the video cam and then dealt him from behind, a sharp blow to the temple.

He felt for one brief instant the sensation of being lifted, and then everything faded unto black.

Lifty could stop the panic taking over him. Locked in! What had he done wrong? Why was Giggles doing this to him?

And where were his friends?

There were windows in his hiding place, but only blackness lay beyond them. He hated the dark, it hid things.

How was he supposed to find a way out when he can't see a thing?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

In the garage, the car engine continued to hum ominously as Toothy fought rising panic. He had to get out of the car! For now, the deadly fumes spreading out of the exhaust pipe were spreading through the garage. But soon enough they would reach him. He couldn't wait for that to happen.

There had to be a way to call for help.

The horn...the car horn! Would a car horn, blasted repeatedly, be mistaken for party noise? Maybe not. Maybe someone walking on the grounds would hear him and then come rushing in to help.

Oh, please, he prayed, please...

His hands were still tied around his back, Toothy leaned forward over the steering wheel. Using his chin to locate the horn, he pressed down hard.

Nothing. Not a sound.

He would have to press harder. Drawing his head back, he took a deep breath and lurched forward, slamming his chin down full force on the horn. The impact sent pain shooting through his jaw and up into his already aching head, he cried out in pain.

But the muffled cry was the only sound he heard. The horn remained silent.

Toothy repeated his attack on the horn three times before giving up. His chin throbbed, his jaw ached and his head rang with pain, but the horn was still silent.

The wires must have been disconnected.

How long did it have to take before he died of carbon monoxide poisoning?

He didn't want to die.

Sinking back against the seat, his eyes searched the shadows for something, anything, that he might use to tear the gag from his mouth. If he could scream, if he could call someone, there was still a chance that he could be heard and discovered in time.

The indicators near the steering wheel beckoned to him through the shadows. If he could hook an edge of the rag around the lever and yank his head backward, maybe the motion would dislodge the rag.

In the dim interior of the car, Toothy maneuvered in the front seat. What if his plan didn't work?

At first it didn't. It took several attempts at bending his head to the steering wheel before he managed to hook an end of the rag around the lever. And several more tries before the end stopped slipping off the lever when he yanked his head backward.

But finally, just as he was about to give up, he hooked the end of the rag around the lever and, praying softly to himself, jerked his head backward as fast as he could.

And this time it worked. The filthy rag clung to the lever and was yanked out of his mouth as the back of his head hit the seat.

His mouth was free.

Toothy began to scream at the top of his lungs.

Lifty examined his surroundings carefully. The French doors on his left could provide an escape. It was worth checking out. Better than staying in this dark room.

He walked to the French doors and pulled one open.

He gasped, stumbled backwards, then quickly shut the door.

It was not a way out. Not for him.

Flippy and Flaky hurried up the stairs, oblivious to the couples lounging on the steps and against the railing, guests who had opted to not take part in this people hunt.

"Good luck!" One of them shouted, Flaky made a face of disgust. He approved of Giggles horrible game? He was as bad as his hostess!

The two of them checked every lavish bedroom upstairs. It wasn't until they came to the end of one of the long hallways and entered a large, dimly lighted room, that they found what they'd been looking for: a roll of round, bright orange stickers tacked onto the wall. Beside them hung a small yellow card bearing the clue that Flaky solved.

"This is it!" she cried, and then in the next second, moaned in disappointment. "Oh, no! I don't believe this! Look, someone's opened the door, and whoever did it has gone."

The door hung slightly open, the handle still slightly bent.

"That's strange," Flippy said. "No one was supposed to let anyone out. Giggles made a point of that."

Flaky thought for a minute. "Toothy and Nutty..." She sais slowly, "...their faces weren't on the screen downstairs. Maybe they got away, like I did. So maybe they found whoever was in there. But then where are they? I don't think that they would have gone home without finding me."

She was about to leave the closet, when she noticed, above her head, a small, ragged scrap of black paper. It was attached to the black cloth draped over the camera.

Frowning Flaky reached up to pull the scrap of paper free. Something was printed on it in what looked like white chalk.

"Flippy, look at this," she said, emerging from behind the door. "What is this?"

The message read, _'Chill out, guys!' _

Flaky looked at Flippy and groaned. "Another stupid game?" she cried. "Chill out? What does that mean?"

Flippy had no answer.

Toothy's screaming brought no response. In a windowless garage, so far from the noisy house, his desperate cries where unheard.

The car's engine chugged away relentlessly. He was feeling sicker and sicker. And he had never been so frightened in all of his life.

"Please, please," he cried aloud, "please, please, please..."

There had to be a way to end the engine's murderous chug-chugging. It was the only way he was going to get out alive.

"Think, think!" He shouted to himself. "There has to be a way. You have to stop the engine. You can't die hear. Not here, not like this!"

Squirming and wriggling, Toothy slid around on the front seat so that his back was facing the steering wheel. Arching backward and straining the bonds around his wrists, he felt with his fingers along the steel column.

And his finger finally caught in the small slot that was they ignition key's home.

But his probing fingers only found emptiness.

No key dangled from the slot.

"Oh, no" Toothy whispered, bitter disappointment mingling with fear, "no, no, no!"

The fumbling sounds he had heard had been his attacker hot-wiring the car.

Toothy's body collapsed forward into the sear, his face sinking into the leather upholstery.

The urge to sleep was overwhelming.

Without a key to turn off the deadly fumes, he had no chance.

I am going to die, he realised.

With faint party sounds echoing distantly, Lifty stood frozen in the center of the room.

Those doors were his only way out. But he couldn't bring himself to enter that room.

"I can't," he murmured, "I can't!"

Standing at the foot of the wide staircase, thoroughly disgusted with their failure to find anyone in the upstairs closet, Flippy and Flaky studied a second yellow card.

_A loaf of bread, a jug of wine_

"What kind of stupid clue is that?" Flippy complained.

"Ask your friend Giggles!" Flaky asked, feeling brave all of a sudden "This was her idea. And for all I know your in on it too."

Flippy raised his hands in mock defense. "Not me," he said. " I had nothing to do with this. You don't really think I'm like that, do you? The kind of weirdo who'd think it a clever idea to lock people up at a party?"

"How should I know? I don't know anything about you except that you're a friend of the jerk who invited me and my friends. We never should have come" Flaky added heavily.

"Hey don't say that." Flippy's voice was gentle. "I'm glad you came." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry all of this is happening. But I'm not sorry you're here. Otherwise, I might never have met you. And when everything's okay again, I'd like to do something about what you just said."

Flaky lifted her head. "About Giggles being a jerk? I think it's too late to do anything about that. Besides, it probably genetic."

Flippy laughed. "No I mean the part about you not knowing anything about me. That's the part I'd like to fix." Then sensing Flaky's embarrassment, he added briskly, "Okay, now let's figure this out," and held up the yellow card. "Bread, wine... sounds like it could be the kitchen right?"

Flaky nodded, trying to regain her composure.

Flippy's words had unsettled her further. He wanted to get to know her better? If she was honest the thought of romance scared her.#

"Right," Flaky said, "the kitchen. Let's go!"

Then she stopped and looked up at him. "Just exactly where is the kitchen?"

Looking pleased to be helpful, Flippy took her hand and led the way.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

In the garage Toothy felt weak and nauseated, and he knew that time was running out.

But without an ignition key, there was no way to stop the engine and cut off the poisonous fumes.

Wriggling around again so that he was was facing front, he peered out the windshield. The garage wall directly ahead of him was wooden. Not brick, or stone. The car, could probably break through the wood.

"What's on the other side of that wall?" he murmured weakly. "Something soft and safe, like a field of grass? Or maybe a solid brick wall like the one at the entrance to this estate?"

Then "What difference does it make what's on the other side of the wall? It's my only way out. And if I don't take it, if I stay in this garage, I'm dead."

When the sound of his own voice seemed to calm him, he continued his solitary conversation.

"I have to get out of here. Now! The engine of this car is already running, so... where's the accelerator?"

Fumbling around the floor with his feet, he found the pedal.

"Okay, here goes!" He pressed down on it.

The car didn't move.

"It's not in gear!" Toothy wailed. "If I just had a light so that I could see!" Then, "But even if I could, how can I shift into drive with my hands tied around my back?"

He fought against tears of desperation. "Crying won't do any good," he scolded. "Think! think!"

Toothy's stomach heaved with nausea, and his head ached. The desire to give up, to close his eyes and sink into blessed unconsciousness was a deadly trap, he knew that. He mustn't give in to it.

But if he didn't break free of the garage in the next few minutes, it would be too late. He would die in the car, in the garage, and his body wouldn't be found until long after the party that he'd been so excited about.

There had to be a way to put the car in gear.

Flippy and Flaky were prevented from entering the kitchen. A member of the catering staff stood guard at the door, saying firmly "Kitchen's off limits, guys. No ones allowed in here but us."

"Giggles would've known that," Flippy pointed out to Flaky as they turned away, "so she wouldn't have hidden anyone in there. Whatever the clue means, it's not about the kitchen."

Flaky was already studying the next yellow card.

To carry the saddle

"The stables!" Flippy exclaimed. "It's got to be the stables. Come on! Let's go!"

Grabbing Flaky's hand again, Flippy hurried her outside.

Toothy, dizzy and sick, leaned forward to move his head around the steering wheel, searching for the shift lever. There was no clutch on the floor, only the accelerator and brake pedals, so he knew that the car was an automatic. The lever should be on the steering wheel column somewhere.

"Where are you?" he cried. "You've got to be here!"

But only the indicator lever brushed past his cheek.

"Where is it!" he screamed.

Then he remembered. There was nothing wrong with his legs. He swiveled round on the seat, brought his foot up and out and down against the gear stick, pushing with what little strength he had left.

The car jerked.

Toothy hesitated, struggling to concentrate. He couldn't see a thing. What if he had shoved the lever into reverse? He'd go zooming backward through the garage doors and down the steep hill, crashing himself and the car until they reached the bottom.

Even if he managed to shift the car into drive, the Olympic-sized swimming pool he'd heard so much about could be sitting right on the other side of the garage wall. The car would smash through the wall and sail into the pool, sink, and he would drown.

"But those are only maybes," he said into the darkness. "Staying here, I'll definitely die."

Head spinning, heart thudding slowly in his chest, Toothy squeezed back against the seat, took a deep breath, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. Hard.

"Please," he prayed "please..."

The car shot forward like a bullet, aiming itself straight for the garage wall.

When the car and the wall collided, splintering boards and sending them flying through the air, Toothy was catapulted forward. His head slammed down and agaiinst the steering wheel with a crack.

He groaned and slipped into grateful unconsciousness as the car found freedom in a grassy, open field beyond the garage. Slowed by the collision with the wall, it came to a gradual halt in the darkness.

Flaky and flippy, hurrying towards the stables, both heard the crash.

"What was that?" Flaky asked, after she regained her senses.

"Came from out back," Flippy said, pointing behind the garage. "We'd better check it out. Come on!"

They broke into a run.

When Nutty and his new guide arrived at a small redwood building deep in the woods instead of at the party house, Nutty was gestured inside.

Crushed by this new turn of events, Nutty protested, "I...I DON'T WANT TO GO IN THERE! IT'S DARK. THERE CAN'T BE ANYONE ELSE IN THERE. I THOUGHT YOU WERE TAKING ME BACK TO THE PARTY."

"Well, you thought wrong." The voice was strangely familiar, yet Nutty could safely say that his guide had gone a long way to make themselves unrecognisable. "This is where Giggles wants you to wait for her.

Nutty hesitated. "Where are my friends?" he asked.

"How should I know? Listen just go inside, okay? I have to get back to the party."

"NO!" Nutty said stubbornly, surprising both of them. "I'M GOING BACK TO THE HOUSE. I WANT TO FIND MY FRIENDS. I DON'T WANT TO GO IN THERE."

"Yes you do!" came the angry response. Nutty caught of guard, was pushed with full force through the open door. The hand between his shoulder blades sent him first to his knees on a wooden floor. Then unable to regain his balance, he stumbled forward, sprawling on his stomach, his arms splaying out helplessly in a futile effort to stop his fall.

And for the second time that evening, the door closed behind him. When he pushed against it, he found it wouldn't budge.

After a second or two of complete and utter silence, Nutty put his face in his hands and began to cry.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**AN- Wow, whats this? An update so quick? What's going on? Anyway, hope you like this new chapter!**

* * *

The scene that greeted Flippy and Flaky as they raced around the corner of the garage jolted them to a sudden halt.

A silver car sat nestled in a sea of grass, its engine running. Its route of escape from the garage was clearly visible in the golden arch of Flippy's torch: The rear wall of the building boasted a huge, jagged hole, and broken white boards lay scattered about the field like matchsticks.

Only the steady hum of the engine sounded in the silence as the breathless pair slowly approached the car. Flippy's torch lit up the car's window.

"Look," Flaky cried, tugging on Flippy's hand, "there's someone in the car! Who is it?"

Aiming his torch at the shape inside the car Flippy concluded "It's one of your friends..."

Flaky rushed towards the side of the car, "Toothy?" Flaky gasped, "It''s Toothy! Oh God, he's hurt!"

Flaky reached down to open the door, only to discover that there were no door handles. There were gaping holes where the handles had been.

Someone hadn't wanted Toothy rescued. And had gone to a lot of trouble to see that he couldn't be.

"He might be dead in there..." Flaky whispered, squeezing Flippy's hand tight. She fought the chocking feeling at the bottom of her throat and began to pound the glass in her panic screaming "Toothy! Toothy, please wake up! Please wake up!"

"He's not dead," Flippy said firmly, gently pulling Flaky back to try and stop her from pounding the glass. "He just drove the car, didn't he? He had to be alive to do that. He probably just got knocked out as he tried to go through the wall." There was admiration for Toothy in his voice. "Help me get him out of there. Grab a board."

Flippy snatched up one of the broken boards lying in the field and began using it as a battering ram against the windshield on the passengers side. Sobbing, Flaky did the same.

It took precious minutes for the safety glass to crack, splinter and collapse enough to allow Flippy to push halfway in and haul a limp Toothy out over the hood.

Flaky helped, her breathing ragged, her hands moving in jerky, agitated motions. Standing beside the hood of the car, gasping for breath, she caught Toothy around the waist as Flippy gently slid the unconscious body towards her. Together they placed Toothy on the damp grass. Then they knelt beside him. Flippy picked up the torch and aimed it at Toothy's face.

"He's breathing," Flaky gasped gratefully. "He's not dead! Thank God!" But then, "Flippy look at this! His hands are tied behind his back!"

Her voice shook with fear and fury as she undid Toothy's bonds. "Look what you friend Giggles has done. If we hadn't heard that crash, Toothy would be...would be...dead by now. God I can't believe that this is happening! Why would Giggles do this to Toothy?"

Before Flippy could answer, Toothy revived by the fresh cool air, began choking and gasping. And his eyes flew open. Flaky crying and laughing at the same time bent down to hug her friend, saying Toothy's name over and over again.

It took Toothy a few minutes to reconcile hir friend. "Are you really here?" Toothy whispered at last, his voice hoarse from screaming. "Flaky am I still in one piece?"

Flaky tried to laugh, "yes Toothy," she said squeezing her friends hand. "You're sill very together, as always. Who tied you up? Did Giggles do this to you?"

Another coughing fit seized Toothy. When it stopped he said "I don't know...anything. I didn't see who it was."

"Was the garage your 'hiding place'?" Flippy asked. "Is that where you were taken?"

Toothy shook his head. "No that girl took me to a little place with lots of shelves of food. In the basement I think. We went down some steps, I remember." He struggled to sit up. Flaky and Flippy reached out to help him."Then someone caught me from behind. He stuffed something in my mouth and tied my hands behind my back. Then he dragged me up here and locked me in the car." He shuddered violently. Flippy put his arm around him to keep him from toppling backward. "The smell made me sick," Toothy continued weakly. "Being locked in that car... I couldn't see anything..." His voice caught as he looked up at Flaky with widened eyes. "He took all the door handles off! I couldn't get out, Flaky! I tried, but i couldn't!"

Flaky nodded. "I know. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to get you out!"

Toothy smiled gratefully. "But you did. Thanks. Both of you." Then his smiled disappeared as he looked from Flaky to Flippy again. "What's going on? I mean, I thought it was just a game, so I wasn't scared at first, just mad. But when I got grabbed from behind...I knew it wasn't a game anymore." Struck by the horror of what had just happened to him, Toothy fell silent.

He was interrupted by the sudden shine of a torch beam. A moment later Giggles appeared over the rise of the hill.

"What is going on here?" she demanded. She shone her light over the scene. When the beam hit the garage wall with its massive hole, she shrieked. "Oh, good grief, what have you done to the garage?" Then she saw the car. "That's my dads favorite car! You've trashed it! Are you nuts?"

Furious Flaky jumped to her feet. "You did this!" she raged, her face inches from Giggles'. "You tried to kill my friend! He could have died locked in there!"

Giggles stood her ground. "What are you talking about? I didn't put anyone int he garage. That wasn't on my list of hiding places. It's too far from the house. I don't know how your little friend got into the car. Maybe he was trying to steal it."

Before Flaky could reach out and smack giggles for her arrogance, the car chugged, coughed, chugged again, spluttered, and the engine died.

It had run out of petrol.

Flippy stood up. "Take it easy Flaky," he said quietly. "We can't be sure Giggles is behind this. She does some really stupid things, but I never thought of her as a killer. Why would she do this?" Turning to Giggles he said, "Look, there's something really crazy going on here. And he was almost killed. His hands tied behind his back and gaged so he couldn't scream. Locked in a car with its engine running and the door handles removed, in a closed garage. If he wasn't as clever he as is, he'd be dead now."

Toothy managed a weak smile of pride.

"How come you're up here all alone?" Flippy asked Giggles. "You can't be the only person who heard the crash."

Giggles shrugged. "I told everyone I'd take care of it. They didn't want to leave the party. And I don't want a crowd round here. But I never expected to find this mess! I just thought that it was someone trying to crash the party."

No one laughed at the play on words. Giggles didn't mean it to be funny.

"Know what I think Flippy?" Giggles asked annoyance in her voice. "I think you and your little friend here," flicking a hand in Flaky's direction, "are trying to get even with me over my little people hunt. I know you don't like the idea, and I suppose she din't either." She shrugged. "But wrecking the garage and my father's car is a little over kill, don't you think? My game was perfectly harmless. Yours wasn't!"

"Giggles," Flippy persisted, "this is no game. This is serious. You've got one very dangerous guest at your party. And none of us know who it is. Who would do something this crazy?"

"Well I wouldn't" Giggles said. "Why would I? I don't even know him."

Her voice shaking with rage, Flaky shouted, "Toothy could have died! Someone deliberately tried to kill him! If it wasn't you who locked him in that acr who was it? Did you make one of your friends do it?"

"Of course not! I haven't the slightest idea who did it. Someone he knows probably. Maybe some jealous friend who wasn't invited to the party." Giggles tossed her head. "Listen," she said coolly, "since he's okay now," waving carelessly towards Toothy, "I don't see why we have to make a big deal out of this. I'll call someone to have the garage fixed before my parents get back in a couple of weeks. My dad never looks round the back of the garage anyway. But if he knew about this he would ship me off to a boarding school. Now," She added while straightening her bow, "I've got to get back to my party."

And as the three watched speechless, the party's hostess turned round. The torches light getting dimmer as she left.

Toothy was the first to speak, "That... that witch!" (Now Toothy said something else here however i thought it too inappropriate to repeat) "I don't believe her! I could have died in there. And she's going back to the party?" Exhausted by this outburst, Toothy leaned against the car that had nearly killed him and took deep breaths.

"We have to call the police," Flippy said flatly as he helped the others back to their feet. "You were almost killed."

Toothy shook his head, "I'm okay, honest. Just a little shaky. We can't waste time calling the police now. They'd be asking questions for hours and we don't have any of the answers. Let's find Handy and the others first. I'll feel better when I know for sure that what's just happened to me isn't happening to them. Then we'll call the police, okay?"

"I don't know," said Flippy doubtfully. "You look like you need an ambulance. We should call the paramedics and the police."

"Later," Toothy insisted firmly. "First, lets find the others."

"I think Toothy might be right," Flaky agreed. "Whoever did this will still be running around loose while we're trying to convince the police that this isn't a joke. I think we should make sure that the others are safe first."

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Flippy asked Toothy as they reached the bottom of the slope and proceeded across the smooth, thick lawn in the dark.

Toothy had a large bump on his forehead, his hands were scratched and dotted with tiny cuts from being pulled through the broken windshield, and his legs refused to hold him up without Flippy and Flaky's support. But he shook his head again and replied "I'm fine. Just find the others, please!" His voice faded rapidly and he added "I'm really scared for them."

Neither Flaky or Flippy said a word.

Because they too, were scared.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN- Hello again! It's just me again. Anyway I'm just going to take this time to answer your reviews. Oh, please do send them, it really helps me write (it also brings me motivation!)**

**BIll- Trust me there is almost a fan-fiction for everything on this site (you just have to keep looking)**

**Guest- The next few chapters should answer your question**

**JaMal- Oh no! I didn't want that at all- could you please tell me where you got that idea from so I can fix it!**

**Anyway, back to the story!**

Chapter 15

"I wish I could come with you," Toothy said as Flippy and Flaky led him to a sitting room in the front hall. "But I'd just slow you down. Come back and get me the second you find the other three, okay? Have you seen anyone at all Flaky?" There was a hint of hope in his voice.

"Not since we played musical chairs. The only way we can find them, is by figuring out those stupid clues that Giggles made up. And unless that manic was only after you Toothy, I think we need to figure them out fast."

"Anyone could be the target Flaky" Flippy attempted to reassure her. "We don't know that your friends are in any more danger than everybody else."

"Maybe not. But unless they escaped, my friends are the only ones who are locked up somewhere alone. Which makes them sitting ducks."

Flippy couldn't argue with that logic. It made sense.

"Giggles has to be behind this," Toothy said. "She's the only one who knew where I was hidden."

"She might have told someone else," Flippy said. "Maybe several other some else's. It really could be anybody."

That thought put them all into silence.

Before they left Toothy, Flippy slipped off his jumper and insisted that he put it on. "I have a shirt on underneath, I'll be alright. You're shivering."

Realizing that he wouldn't take no for an answer, Toothy took the jumper, and lay down on the sofa, trying to keep warm.

"Bring them here as soon as you find them, okay? I need to see for myself that they are all alright." Toothy asked.

"If they are all alright." Flaky thought.

She hated leaving Toothy. It was hard to leave him lying there, after all that had happened.

But he was safe now. There were plenty of people around, and the person who attacked him probably thought that he was dead already, anyway, so they wouldn't be looking for him. However they may be looking for Lifty, Handy and Nutty.

Flaky and Flippy ran into the hall.

Flaky asked, "Do you think the person who attacked him is a girl or a guy?"

"Toothy said he was dragged up that hill. He's almost as tall as me. Wouldn't it take a big guy to take him that far?"

"Toothy's tall, but really light," Flaky argued. There were couples sitting on the stairs. She lowered her voice. The mansion was still noisy, so Flippy had to strain to hear her. "lots of girls could grab Toothy from behind, catch him off guard, and drag him. Giggles probably could. So could that girl who helped her with that musical chairs game."

The people sitting on the stairs ignored Flippy and Flaky. Some were studying the small yellow cards, others who had chosen not to play were talking and laughing. It was hard for Flaky to accept that none of the guests knew what was happened to Toothy. Hadn't Giggles told them anything?

Apparently not. If she had, no one seemed the least bit interested. Not enough to stop partying.

Flaky shivered. Remembering that they had been on their way to the stables before the crash, she started to head for the front door.

"Wait a sec," Flippy said suddenly, touching her arm. "One minute okay?"

Surprised, Flaky half turned. "What?" Her voice was impatient and tense with worry. "Flippy, we have to hurry!"

"I know." He stood looking down at her. The glow of flickering light played across his face. His expression was serious, his eyes on hers. "Listen Flaky," he said, taking her hands into his, "I just wanted to say, I wish we'd met someplace else, under different circumstances."

Flaky didn't look away. "Me too."

"Every time you think of me now," Flippy continued, "you're going to think of this night. I hate that."

Flaky wanted to reassure Flippy that what happened wouldn't affect anything. But she couldn't erase from her mind being locked in that room, and even worse, the image of Toothy slumped over the steering wheel in that car of death. One way or another Giggles was responsible. If she hadn't done it herself, someone she had invited had. And Flippy was Giggles friend. He was part of her crowd. Even now, after he'd seen with his own eyes what had happened to Toothy, he could believe that Giggles was behind it. As if their crowd could never do anything so awful.

Taking a deep breath of resolve, Flaky pulled her eyes and her hands away from Flippy. "Come on," she urged, "we have to hurry!"

"All right," Flippy said. "But first, I want to take another look at the clues."

A group of party guests went past, several stopped to show interest in the clue, a blue skunk came forward and suggested "Basement?"

Flaky glanced up. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, name's Petunia. There's a big food supply in the basement, like Giggles family is getting ready for the W.A.R that they keep going on about at school..."

"Oh, I heard of that!" Flippy said, "When I'm old enough I'm signing up!"

"Anyway..." Petunia continued, "want me to show you where it is? The door locks so no one can come in and steal food, so I guess it could be a hiding place."

"That's probably were Toothy was hidden first," Flaky told Flippy quietly. "He said that he thought that he was in the basement, and that there were shelves of food. Maybe we should check it out, there could be a clue there."

They, accompanied by Petunia, began to move towards the basement.

* * *

"Why does it have to be mirrors?" Lifty moaned to his reflection. "This shouldn't be happening to me," he said softly. "I haven't done anything wrong. Not this time."


	16. Chapter 16

**Guest- The next few chapters should give you some more clues. Though I will tell you that it is someone on that list.**

**JaMaL HaDeS- Don't worry, you just had me reading through the chapters wondering where I had accidentally had a cross-dressing Cuddles! **

**AN- Sorry for the short chapter, but I've just had a lot on at the moment**.**Anyway, I'll stop begging for forgiveness and get back to the story.**

* * *

Chapter 16

There was no one in the basement when they arrived.

But there was, stuck directly beneath the roll of purple stickers on the wall, another ragged scrap of black paper, with a chalk message on it.

_What a gas, man!_

Flippy turned to Flaky, "What does that mean?"

Frowning, Flaky thought for a minute. "Wait a sec," she said slowly. "This is where Toothy was taken first right? This is where Giggles hid him, Shelves with food, down a fight of stairs?"

This has to be it.

Flippy nodded. "Right."

"Then he was taken out of here, to the garage." Flaky waved the scrap of black paper in the air. "'What a gas, man,' is a clue. It's telling us that Toothy was taken to the garage."

While Flippy understood what Flaky meant, Petunia looked puzzled.

"A clue?"

"Sure. Whoever is moving my friends around is playing a variation of Giggles original game. Only," Flaky's voice was grim, "there're not playing. This game is deadly. And I think," she added, "that we'd better find Handy, Nutty and Lifty as soon as possible."

"Do you still have the first scrap of black paper? The one we found outside the upstairs closet?"

Flaky nodded. She put it into her bag for safekeeping. Taking it out she read it again.

_Chill out, guys!_

Flaky pursed her lips "It's telling us that they have been hidden somewhere cold. A fridge? A freezer. No, they wouldn't fit."

"Yes they would!" Flippy cried.

"Giggles' has a huge walk in freezer, you could easily hide someone in there!" Petunia had the same thought.

Flippy led her to the giant walk in freezer. There was no sound of hands pounding on the door for help.

Either there was no captive or...

"Get Giggles." Flaky told Flippy. "I think whoever is hiding in there is dead..."

"No need," came Giggles voice. "I've just realised who you are. How did you get out of that room? The game isn't over yet. No one has brought me all five stickers."

Losing all her fear, Flaky walked towards Giggles and yelled, "oh, yes the game is over! You're stupid dangerous game is over. You have almost got one of my friends killed and the others may be in a similar situation. And one may already be dead in that freezer!"

"I don't know what kind of stunt, you and your weird friends are pulling," Giggles said. "But I'm beginning to wish that I had never invited you."

"That makes six of us!" Flaky snapped as she turned towards the freezer door.

It was surprisingly unlocked.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN- Here is another chapter to make up for the short one that I posted last time.**

**Guest- Trust me, even I want to punch Giggles in the face right now!**

* * *

Chapter 17

It was Handy, who was in the freezer. His mouth round the safety handle, looking as if he was in a desperate attempt to open the freezer door. He was barely conscious, skin waxy and pale, lips a bluish purple. When the yanked him off the handle, you could hear the sick sound of skin peeling off metal. Flaky quickly closed the freezer door behind them.

"Is he dead?" Petunia whispered, leaning beside Handy. "I'll get some blankets!"

Petunia went off to get some blankets. When she had gone, Flippy checked Handy's pulse. "He needs the paramedics, " he said a moment later. "We have to call an ambulance."

Flaky nodded and ran upstairs.

There was a phone on the small table in the noisy first floor hall. The area was full of people who had given up on the 'people hunt'.

When she completed her call, Flaky hurried back to the basement. Petunia had evidently found some blankets and Flippy informed Flaky that she had gone to get a hot drink for Handy.

Handy was conscious, but shaking violently.

Flippy and Flaky managed to get him upstairs. Flippy led the way to a small den where Handy was placed on the sofa, wrapping the blankets tightly, around him. He looked like he was in a red cocoon.

Handy's eyes were still wide with disbelief. Partly because of his near death, partly because of Toothy's story and party because Petunia (who didn't know him) was doing all this to help him. Did she really like him? No, Handy, he told himself. There are more important questions to ask, like...

"Are you sure Toothy's okay? Carbon monoxide poisoning is horrible stuff. How do you know if he is alright?"

"He said he was. But we want him to go to the hospital with you, just so she can be checked out." Flaky forced a smile. "I'm so glad we found you when we did." Then more intently, "Handy, who took you out of the upstairs closet? That's where you were hidden first, right? We found a piece of paper up there, with a clue on it about the freezer." To her disappointment, Handy shook his head. "I saw nothing. Zilch. The door opened, someone thunk-ed me on the head, I saw stars, and I woke up in the Antarctic. That's' it. Sorry."

Petunia returned, a cup of steaming liquid in her hands. Flaky went to meet her in the doorway, taking the cup of coffee gratefully. "Could you do us a favour?" she asked. "Could you run and get Toothy? He's in a little room near the front door. Handy wants to see if he is okay, and I guess it would be better if they were both together when the ambulance arrives. Would you mind?"

"Yeah, sure, be right back." Petunia replied taking one last look at Handy.

Flaky took the coffee back to Handy. "Toothy will be here soon," she told him as he gave him the warm cup. "You can see for yourself that he's okay."

Handy tried, and failed to sit upright. "I don't get whats going on," he said as he sipped the hot drink. "What's with the party? Where's Lifty? And Nutty?"

"We don't know yet." Flaky glanced at her watch. They were spending too much time with Handy, but she didn't want to leave him until Toothy and Petunia arrived.

"Why would anyone want to hurt you... or Toothy?" She studied Handy's face. There was something..."Handy? Do you have any ideas?"

Handy nodded reluctantly, his eyes sliding away from Flaky's "I wish I didn't. But I think maybe it might be Curls."

"Curls? That rabbit you met at the camp?"

Another nod. "I know it sounds crazy. I mean she doesn't even live in this town, and she wouldn't know where Giggles lives, but..." He drifted off.

"Handy," Flippy pointed out, "anyone who wanted to could find out where Giggles lives. There's no other house quite like it in town."

"Yeah, good point. Anyway, Curls was really mad when I told her I was coming here without her. I mean she totally freaked out on the phone. Mad enough to do something...well something crazy."

"You think this girl is strong enough to lift and carry you?" Flippy asked, disbelief on his face.

Handy thought for a second. "Yeah, I think so. She's big. She's a swimmer. She was a lifeguard at camp. So she has really strong arms and shoulders. Besides, not having arms makes me lighter. Anyway, she might have not done it all herself." He shook his head. "It's hard to believe that someone I liked could do anything so nuts. But I keep hearing the way she sounded on the phone, you know?"

"But then why would she hurt Toothy?" Flaky asked when Toothy and Petunia entered the room.

Handy, unaware they had entered replied "Maybe she realised that I still went. You, know? Not with her but with my friends. Jealousy has done stranger things. Then, maybe she also figured out the feelings I have for Petunia. I haven't told anyone, but she's smart. She could have figured it out. That would maker her mad at me. Nothing to do with Toothy though..."

Petunia, a blush appearing on her face, came around the corner of the sofa, to make her presence known. In the light, she could admit that, there was something about him.

Toothy, a smile on his face came around after, to see for himself that Handy was okay. His smile only deepened when he heard Handy's admit his feelings for Petunia, in front of her (okay, so he wasn't aware she was there, but it was still a milestone) It probably made it easier for him. As now he doesn't have to say it. She already knows.

"I hate to sound rude," Petunia said softly, "but shouldn't you be looking for your other friends? I'll stay here if you need."

Flaky nodded and went back to Flippy "We need to find Nutty and Lifty." She reminded him. "Toothy, when the ambulance arrives, go with Handy okay?"

"I'm not leaving here until I know that Nutty and Lifty are alright."

"That goes for me too," Handy echoed. "Besides, the others may need an ambulance too."

Flaky's face went white. Lifty and Nutty hurt too? "Come on Flippy, we need to hurry!" she urged, "Handy and Lifty will be safe here. We have to find Lifty and Nutty."

"Right," Flippy said firmly, moving towards her. "Where do we start?"


	18. Chapter 18

**AN- Hello again, it's just me, again sorry for the short chapters, hopefully you will all eventually forgive me. Though I will say that reviews may force me to type a little faster...**

**Guest- As I'm such a mean person, all I'm going to say is look out for clues in the upcoming chapters.**

**Now here is the next chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 18

Nutty tried to escape. It wasn't possible. The doors refused to budge, and there were no windows. None of the light switches worked, and there was no telephone.

This awful place...it wasn't simply that it was dark and empty. The first place had been both those things. But it hadn't been so sickeningly hot, the way this place was. It wasn't supposed to be so awful, he knew that. It was supposed to be pleasant. But someone had done something to make this the most miserable place on earth.

Nutty felt sick, really sick. He had never felt so deathly ill. If he didn't get out of his place...

I'm going to die, he suddenly realised. This must be what dying feels like.

why hadn't his friends come and let him out of this terrible, killing place?

Was he so un-liked that no one would care when he was missing?

We're his friends so busy having a good time that they hadn't noticed?

"HOW COULD ANYONE DO THIS?" Nutty cried out.

No one answered.

* * *

Aware of the minutes racing by Flippy suggested that they split up. Flaky agreed. (She would prefer to stay together, but there just wasn't time.)

"I'll go straight to the stables," he suggested. "You can take the last clue."

The yellow card simply read:

_Onward and upward!_

"Up?" Flaky mused aloud. "Upstairs? We've already looked upstairs. Perhaps there is an attic."

"Okay, you go check that out, I'll be at the stables, we'll meet back at the house." Then he added "You be careful okay? This isn't a sane person we are dealing with. If they check the music room and you're not there, they're going to be really mad. Just watch it please, for me."

Then without any warning, he bent his and and kissed her, quickly but firmly. "That's for luck," he said before he left.

But Flaky had little time to think about Flippy' kiss and what it might mean. They had to find Lifty and Nutty. She could only hope that it wasn't too late.

She rushed up the stairs.

* * *

Lifty couldn't just sit there doing nothing. It was sheer torture, sitting alone in the candle-lit room.

Why was Giggles doing this to him?

After slowly getting up, Lifty paced up and down the room. Maybe Giggles had found out about him. Maybe after she posted his invite, someone from Rosebush Town had told her the whole story. Giggles would have been horrified by the thought of having someone in her home who had done what Lifty had done.

"So," Lifty murmured aloud, thinking worriedly as he spoke, "almost the minute I arrived, I was taken away and hidden. The musical chairs game was just an excuse to get rid of me."

But... Handy had been the first to lose, not Lifty. Why take Handy away if Lifty was the one you wanted to remove?

"If Giggles wanted to disguise her real intention I wouldn't guess what was happening and cause a scene, she would make other people lose too. The others are probably already back at the party, having a grand time, while I'm still right here where Giggles wants me."

Didn't anyone wonder where he had gone?

Wasn't anyone looking for him?

What about his friends?

Didn't they miss him?

A terrible realisation came to Lifty, and he stopped pacing.

Of course.

They all knew!

Giggles told everyone the truth, and his friends had been repelled by it.

Now they didn't want to be friends anymore.

He couldn't blame them.

Then Lifty had an even more horrible thought.

What if it wasn't Giggles at all?

What if it were...

"No that's not possible!" He told himself, now desperate. "Or is it?" he whispered to the mirror.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN- Hello again! Here is a new chapter. I will apologise once again for a short chapter, I just have a French assessment that will go towards my GCSEs. **

**So that has to take priority, sorry!**

**Oh, by the way I'm not sorry at all for the ending of this chapter! (_Evil laugh)_**

**Guest- Well there will be more Flippy and Flaky moments later on, so don't go anywhere!**

* * *

Chapter 19

When Flippy arrived at the stables, there were no stickers anywhere in sight. The rough wooden walls were bare. A mare stuck her head through the the open top half of her stable door, and whinnied a greeting.

"I wish you could tell me what's going on," Flippy grumbled.

He was about to leave in disappointment when he noticed a door at the far end of the stables. An office? Worth checking out anyway.

And there it was a roll of lime green stickers on the wall beside the stable office door. He shone his torch over the area, and when he saw another scrap of black paper fluttering in the night breeze, he realised with a stab of anger that the office was already empty. Whoever had been hidden in here had now been removed.

Angry and frustrated, he ripped the scrap of black paper from the wall. The chalked scrawl was so faint, he could barely read it.

_Don't sweat it man!_

Flippy concentrated. _Chill out guys! _had meant the freezer. What would _Don't sweat it man! _mean?

The sauna? That little building Giggle's mother had ordered, constructed somewhere in the woods? It had only recently become operational.

But where was it?

A group of party guests came wandering out the woods, laughing. They stopped nearby to study their yellow cards under the beam of the torch.

"Anyone know where the new sauna is?" Flippy asked.

No one did. They were more interested in the stables, having figured out that some stickers must be hidden there.

There were several paths to the woods. Uncertain, Flippy hesitated. If he chose the wrong one, he'd be wasting precious time.

A couple came into the clearing along a different path from the groups route. They were holding hands and like the first one, laughing.

Flippy envied their carefree ignorance of the evenings horrible events. They were simply having a good time.

Why hadn't this terror touched anyone, apart from Flaky and her friends? What was it about them that had someone angry enough to kill? And what part in this nightmare had Giggles played by inviting them?

Did she know more than she was telling?

"The sauna back that way?" he asked, hope evident in his voice.

"Nope," one answered. "Nothin' but woods and owls back there. Maybe a few bats."

The other squealed with fake terror. Laughing they walked away.

That left only one possible path.

Aiming his torch in front of him, he ran.

* * *

Nutty was having difficulty breathing. His body was soaking wet, his fur matted to his skin, drenched in sweat.

His chest hurt. Each time it moved in and out in an effort to breathe, pain squeezed it, as if it was trapped in a huge vise. His head felt swollen to twice its normal size.

Why doesn't someone come to get me? He wondered, before he gave up and closed his eyes.

* * *

Lifty was pacing again. The party was still in full swing. He could hear the distant laughter and music, and he pictured all his friends dancing to it. Having the greatest time without him. Even if Giggles had told them the truth about him, shouldn't they have least given him a chance to explain? It didn't seem like them to take the word of someone like Giggles without checking out he story first.

Not that the story could be denied.

The truth was bad enough.

But... some people had different ways of seeing the truth.

He turned back towards the mirror.

"I made a mistake," he murmured aloud. "I was stupid. And I've been sorry ever since. A lot of good that does!"

Lifty went to turn around, however his reflection grabbed his shaking arm and replied.

"I know."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN- What's this? An update so quick? What's going on?**

**Well I felt bad at leaving you such short chapters, while I've been doing my french writing/speaking assessments.**

** So here is another chapter!**

**Better a Freak Than A Fake- I was hoping that at least one person would arrive at that conclusion!**

* * *

Chapter 20

The little building sat in a clearing deep int he woods. It was completely dark and looked empty. But Flippy knew that it was the right place when he saw the thick slab of wood slipped through the big copper door handles, barring any exit from the building. Whoever was in there was unquestionably trapped.

Running to the double doors, Flippy yanked the board from between the handles and pulled one of the doors open.

And walked straight into an inferno of heat.

Nutty was sprawled across the wooden floor. Fur shiny with perspiration. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his chest moved with effort, but he was breathing. Barely.

Flippy glanced at the ground control gauge on the wall beside the door. The black arrow was deep inside the red section where **DANGER **was printed.

He didn't need to check the gauge to know that someone had tampered with it deliberately, making it impossible for Nutty to adjust the temperature and save himself.

The first thing he needed to do was get Nutty out of that oven. He was having trouble breathing himself. Staggering under Nutty's damp, leaden weight, Flippy struggled to the door and outside, where he carefully put her down on the cool grass. Then he took a deep breath and raced up the path. Nutty needed medical attention, and he needed it fast.

Had he found him in time?

* * *

As Lifty pulled his arm back, he realised that it wasn't a mirror.

It was a door frame.

He fell into a sitting position, his hands covering his mouth, eyes wide with horror.

Like a vision straight out of one of his nightmares, Shifty was standing in front of him, grinning.

Lifty had tried to dismiss the idea that Shifty was behind all this. Now with the person he feared most, in the very same room, Lifty realised that his suspicions had been right all along.

He would never forget the rage, the anger, the hatred in Shifty's voice that last time. "_You're going to leave me here to face the music alone?_" had been Shifty's furious reaction to Lifty announcing that he had accepted his aunt's offer. And was going off to live with her. _"Now, when everyone in town is talking about us, pointing at us, whispering behind our backs? You're going to take off and leave me to face this alone? You can't do that Lifty, you can't! We were supposed to be in this together."_

And when Lifty had explained timidly that it wasn't his fault that their aunt hadn't offered to give Shifty a new home too, Shifty had attacked him, while shouting hateful, ugly things, and threatening further harm.

"What are you doing here?" Lifty repeated as his twin approached. "How did you get in here?"

Shifty took a seat in the chair opposite Lifty. The flickering candle light bathed the room in a eerie yellowish glow.

Before Shifty could answer Lifty's questions, they were interrupted by the wail of an ambulance siren. Its wail overwhelmed the party sounds, and sent Lifty's mind spinning back to another night, months ago, when the shrieking had not come from an ambulance, but from a police car...

* * *

Flippy flagged down the ambulance as it screeched to a halt in front of the mansion's wide stone steps. Nutty needed help more desperately than the others. He led the two paramedics, stretcher in tow, into the woods to the sauna.

"He's in a bad way," one of the paramedics told him when they reached the motionless body in front of the building. "He's lucky we got here in time."

"There are two more up in the house," Flippy said wearily. "I'll go tell them you're here."

Toothy and Handy were relieved to hear that Nutty had been found. Flippy was careful to avoid the details of his condition, not wanting to alarm them.

Flaky hasn't come back downstairs yet," Toothy told Flippy. "So I'm afraid we know nothing about Lifty's whereabouts."

Flippy didn't like the sound of that, he had been gone quite a while. Why hadn't Flaky come back?

No point in worrying Toothy and Handy. Neither of them looked too great. Handy's face was still bone white, and Toothy's an unhealthy grey.

The lump on his forehead had turned an ugly purplish-red and stuck out like a door-knob

"You guys go on now," he said with a calmness that he didn't feel. "The paramedics say Nutty can't wait. They'll take the three of you to the hospital."

Toothy hesitated, he didn't want to leave before checking that Lifty was okay.

Seeing his reluctance to leave Handy asked Flippy, "You will bring Flaky and Lifty back to the house as soon as you find them, wont you?"

Flippy nodded, then led them both to the ambulance. When the rear doors closed, Flippy shook his head as he turned away and hurried back to the house. What a sorry sight! Three sick, injured people who had no idea why this night had become, for them, a disaster.

Behind him, the ambulance sped away, its siren quickly fading.

Now... he had to find Flaky.

He quickened his steps.

When Flippy reached the porch, he found Giggles waiting for him. There was no alarm or concern in her face, only annoyance.

"That's what I get for inviting outsiders," she said with disgust, guesting down the hill in the direction the ambulance had taken. "They've absolutely ruined my party!"

Flippy stared at her, "You're blaming them? Giggles three people almost died! And one is missing. This is all your doing. You and your stupid games."

He turned to walk away, but Giggles followed.

"Flippy, I don't see how you can blame me for everything that's happened. If you ask me, your new friends brought the trouble with them. Nothing like this has ever happened at my parties before. Doesn't it look like it's all their doing?"

"Maybe you planned it that way." Flippy frowned. "I just can't figure out why. You're spoiled and selfish Giggles, but I never thought of you as crazy. Perhaps I wasn't paying attention."

He turned away from her. "Now leave me alone," he called over his shoulder as he hurried towards the phone in the hall. "I have to call the police."

And before she could protest, he'd dialed the number.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN- Well here it is, the chapter that I hope most of you were waiting for. **

**The why.**

**Guest- This chapter will give you the why. And yes I do think that Flippy has removed himself from Giggles group. (Thank God!)**

* * *

Chapter 21

As Lifty sat, looking at Shifty, his mind was far away, recalling what happened months ago.

The policemen hadn't done the things he feared.

No handcuffs.

No reading of rights.

He was a juvenile, as was Shifty, and they hadn't been mistreated. He'd been too frightened to tell them his name. They had to look in his wallet for identification.

And then they had called their foster parents.

Shifty hadn't spoken at all, either. But that silence had come from defiance, not fear.

Even now, after he had gone over it in his head hundreds of times, Lifty still wasn't quite sure how Shifty had talked him into it. But Shifty was always good at convincing people. He was very... persuasive, when he wanted to be.

Lifty's thoughts were abruptly brought back to present time.

"Didn't I tell you I could find you anywhere?" Shifty asked. "You didn't believe me Lifty. That was stupid of you, I never lie about stuff like that."

"No, but you do lie," Lifty murmured, anger beginning to rise within him.

This shouldn't be happening to him.

This whole ugly mess of months ago was supposed to be behind him.

Over and done with.

The judge had put them both on probation and released them back to their foster parents. Who had promptly looked for any living relatives who could take them on. An aunt came out of no-where who could only take in one of us. As I was younger I was chosen to go with my aunt, I was told to "take advantage of this new opportunity and get your life together."

And wasn't that what he was trying to do?

But how could he when the past was sitting, an evil grin on his face, right there in front of him?

"You lied about the ring," Lifty continued bravely. "You said that it was cheap costume jewelry. And it wasn't. Five thousand pounds isn't cheap costume jewelry, Shifty. We could have gone to jail for a long time. And you lied about me. You told everyone it was my idea. It wasn't. It was yours."

His twin said nothing, but continued to regard Lifty with that sly, wicked grin.

"Was that stupid musical chairs game downstairs your idea? Lifty demanded. "Did you talk Giggles into helping you do this? I know better than anyone how good you are at talking people into doing things for you."

Shifty's grin widened, he then replied, "Don't be stupid! I don't even know the rich girl who owns the house. And I don't want to. Who needs her? I did this all by myself." The voice lowered. "That's the way I prefer it now. Who needs people? They'll just turn on you anyway, especially when your're in trouble. Look how the whole town turned on us."

"It was our own fault, Shifty. We never should have..." Lifty swallowed past the lump in his throat. It was so hard to say out loud. "We never should have tried to steal that ring."

Saying the words, giving the terrible memory a voice, brought it all flooding back in a wash of shame. It played in his mind as if he were watching it on a TV.

He didn't want to watch.

He wouldn't.

Not again!

But he was powerless to erase the images once they began.

Unable to stop himself, he re-lived again every miserable, frightening moment of it.

_It had been a Thursday night. The shopping center was crowded, but Shifty said that was an advantage, that it would be easier to slip out of the jewelry store unnoticed._

_They had planned carefully. Shifty knew exactly where the security guard would take his break. No one replaced him during his absence. Lifty's job was to distract the salesclerk while his twin pocketed the ring from a tray on display. Shifty had heard it done in stories loads of times and it had always seemed to work._

_But those were stories. _

_Not real life._

_And it seemed to be working... at first._

_Lifty dropped his bag and sent the content all over the expensive carpet. The salesclerk exclaimed in dismay over the mess and hurried over to help Lifty retrieve his belongings._

_While Shifty pocketed the ring._

_That part of it went smoothly._

_But as the pair walked out the door, being very careful not to hurry or look in the least bit guilty, an alarm sounded throughout the building. The noise sounded to Lifty like a million clanging fire engines, a million ringing bells, a million cymbals meeting. It froze his feet to the floor and stopped his pulse._

_Still for a moment he could still pretend that the screaming sound had nothing to do with his actions. Denial kept him from passing out or breaking into a frantic run down the corridor, away from the store._

_But when the salesclerk came over, he grabbed each of them by the elbow and dragged them back inside of the store, reality kicked him in the stomach, and promptly took his breath away._

_During the only second when they were alone after that, in a moment the salesclerk and manager were confirming in private outside of the locked office where Lifty and Shifty waited, Shifty had shrugged and said "The price tag must have had a code in it that set off the alarm. I guess I should have checked that part out. If I'd known, I could have dumped the price tag right there on the counter. Well, live and learn, right?"_

_Shifty hastily made up story about taking the ring "by mistake," a simple error that "anyone could have made," failed to impress the clerk or the manager and, later, the police. The manager silenced Shifty's excuses with one cold hard look. His expression remained stony and unrelenting as the three of them waited in silence for the shopping center security guard._

_He didn't buy the story either, and immediately called the police._

_They arrived minutes later. Then the nightmare really began._

_Curious shoppers, seeing the police arrive, came into the shop to stare. Seeing the pair in the office, surrounded by uniformed law officers, they began whispering, shaking their heads._

_Then came the humiliation of being marched through the shop, past the onlookers, and then down miles and miles of shopping center corridor to the front entrance._

_Passing people who knew them at school, seeing them gasp in disbelief._

_Until that moment, he had never wanted to die, had never even thought about it._

_ True he wasn't the most popular guy at school. _

_That's why he had Shifty who was the second half of their double act._

_He had never wanted his life to end._

_Until that night._

_But the floor beneath his feet refused to open and swallow him up, although he prayed fiercely for it to do just that._

_Lifty had thought that nothing could be worse than that torturous walk of shame._

_But he was wrong._

_The worse moment was when Lifty began to lie._

_"It was Lifty's idea. He wanted that ring more than anything. He told me if I didn't get it for him, he'd make my life miserable."_

_And the more the lies that were stubbornly repeated, the more Lifty realised that Shifty was beginning to believe they were true. Shifty now believed every word coming from the same mouth that told Lifty, "We wont get caught, honest! I could do this in my sleep, it's so easy. Quit being such a chicken!"_

_Shifty was now blaming him. _

_When the actual truth was the exact opposite. _

_Not that it mattered whose idea it was, they were both guilty._

_But the ring had been recovered, and because of their ages they didn't go to prison._

_Their punishment had been of a different kind. In a small town, word travels fast. And it wasn't the kind of small town that tolerated criminals, no matter what their age._

_The taunts didn't stop until Lifty was taken on by a long lost aunt, who only had room for one of the duo. And as Lifty was younger, she chose to take him._

"No one came for me," Shifty said, now interrupting Lifty's miserable memories. "I was apparently all my fault. I was older. I should have been more responsible. Because apparently eight minutes makes all the difference!"

"I'm sorry," Lifty said softly.

"Shut up! After you left me all alone, I had nobody, I was completely totally alone." The voice grew harsher, cold as ice. "The whole thing was your doing. You talked me into stealing that ring. And then you deserted me. I can never forgive you for that, Lifty."

"No... it wasn't like that, and you know it. Why have you forgotten the way it really was?"

"Liar, liar, liar! If your precious new friends knew what a liar you are, they'd never have spoken to you. They shouldn't have." Shifty's expression grew dark. "They should have known better than to make friends with someone like you. You'd just betray them, they way you betrayed me. Your own twin brother!"

Lifty sat up straighter. "My friends? What do you know about my friends?" His stomach become knotted with fresh fear.

Was that why they hadn't come for him?

Had Shifty done something to them?

"Shifty," he said evenly, leaning forward, "what have you done to my friends?"


	22. Chapter 22

**AN- Hello again, look! A new chapter! **

** (I need to get out more...) **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy**

**Guest- There is a little Flaky in this chapter. And I'll leave Giggles for you to speculate, as honestly don't know. Probably a mix of being spoilt and no one standing up to her. As those who didn't like the people hunt, didn't stop it from happening (well except Flippy) they just ignored it.**

**ANNAmationsYT- Thank you so much, that means the world to me!**

* * *

Chapter 22

Lifty knew that he had to stall for time. The distant laughter and music had been replaced by the sound of countless car engines starting and then departing. The party was over. Now someone would realise that he was missing and would come looking for him.

"What did I do to your stupid new friends," Shifty said coldly in answer to Lifty's question, "I'm going to do to you. They're dead. I killed them. All but one. She got away. But I'll take care of her later, when I've finished with you."

Lifty stopped breathing. No! Shifty was lying it wasn't possible. No one could kill four people at a party crowded with guests.

That was crazy.

Someone would have stopped something so horrible from happening.

The idea was simply, insane...

Then Lifty remembered the wail of the ambulances and looked into Shifty's eyes.

Insane?

Lifty felt sick.

Was that what he saw in those eyes?

Insanity?

Was that what happened to Shifty when the world fell apart around them?

If my friends are dead, he thought despairingly, it's because of me.

Scooting backward on the sofa until he felt the wall pressing into his spine, he forced himself to calm his screaming nerves and his still pounding heart. After a moment, he was able to ask in a conversational tone, "how did you find out about the party? How did you know I'd be here? Or who my friends were?" Oh God, make it be a lie, he prayed. Don't let my friends be dead, please! "I'm not a friend of the girl who lives in this house. She only invited us to play a trick on us."

"I know." Shifty's need to explain the cleverness of his plan to punish Lifty overcame him, and he began talking. "I've been in town for two weeks. I heard about this bash and figured you'd be going. I mean, considering how you're building a new life and all. I've been watching you. I know all about your friends." A sneer twisted his lips, "I think there're all jerks, frankly. Don't know what you see in any of them."

Shifty hadn't said "what you saw in them." No past tense there. So maybe it was a lie, Lifty thought. Maybe his friends were okay.

They had to be.

But then, why the ambulance?

"I slipped in with the caterers' staff this afternoon when they were being given a tour of the house and the grounds. No one even noticed me. That's how how I know the grounds so well. I also stole a batch of the yellow cards your hostess planned to pass out at the party. It only took me a couple of minutes to work out where everyone was hidden."

Lifty watched in shocked fascination as Shifty boasted about such clever tactics.

It gave him time to realise that who used to be his identical twin.

On closer inspection, wasn't such a perfect copy any more.

The scandal looked to have taken a terrible toll on him.

But he couldn't afford to feel sorry for the wild-eyed creature in front of him. Sympathy would only lower his defenses against this person who intended to harm him. And that mistake might cost him his life.

I don't want my life to end, he thought clearly.

This had been my worst year, and there have been so many times when I didn't want to get out of bed and face the world again. But I did it.

After a while, Lifty had realised that no matter how horrible his life was, Monday still became Tuesday, and Tuesday still became Wednesday, and Wednesday became Thursday...the world didn't stop because he wished that it would.

After it had even begun to seem possible, just possible that when enough Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays had passed, the memory of that horrible night in the shopping center would fade, just a little.

That hope, feeble as it was, had made it easier to keep going, to pack up and go with his aunt to Happy Tree Town, to live in a new house and make new friends.

He was making a new life.

A life that Shifty had every intention of taking away from him.

* * *

While Flippy phoned the police, Giggles sent everyone home. Indignant groans greeted her announcement that the party was over. But when she added that the police were on their way due to an "unfortunate accident," the mansion cleared quickly. No one wanted to be included in any trouble.

"This is the worst night of my life!" Giggles exclaimed in exasperation as Flippy hung up the phone. Her lower lip thrust forward. "I thought the musical chairs game and the people hunt would be fun. Scavenging for people instead of things is such a neat idea. It should have been a great party."

"Oh, sure," Flippy said, his voice stern, "scavenging for people is just great, as long as it isn't people you give a hoot about. You invited five people to this house to use them, Giggles, for entertainment. And now those five people are in serious trouble. Three of them have been hurt already. And we don't know where the other one is. And now, I don't even know where Flaky is. Where did you hide Flaky's friend, Giggles? Lifty? Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll still be in there. And I hope Flaky is with him."

Giggles looked blank. "Lifty? I don't know which one he is. So how can I know where he's hiding?"

"The clue said 'Onward and Upward!' " Flippy said impatiently. "Does that mean anything?"

Giggles face cleared. "Oh, that's the attic. The third floor. He must be up there." she waited expectantly, a half smile on her lips as if she expected Flippy to congratulate her for her cleverness.

Instead he bolted for the stairs.

Not knowing what else to do, Giggles followed.

They had reached the second floor and were about to continue on up the stairs when a figure staggered out of the room, on hand to her head, the other clinging to the wall for support, leaving a scarlet hand-print on the white surface.

With a sharp intake of breath, Flippy rushed to its side. Clutching around the waist as its knees gave, he cried "Flaky! My God, what happened?"

Flaky's eyes were glazed with shock. "I... I don't know I was almost to the attic stairs when something slammed into my head. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor in the bedroom." Then she looked up at Flippy, worry written across her face. "Did you find Lifty?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. We were on our way to the attic when you came out of that room. Giggles, go call an ambulance. Now!"

"No!" Flaky protested. "I don't need one. I just have a rotten headache, that's all. I'm fine. We'd better look for Lifty, he could be hurt much more than me."

* * *

"That's enough talking," Shifty told Lifty, who was trying to disappear into the sofa. "You're stalling for time. You think you're so clever. But I'm the one who planned all of this, and it worked, so that makes me smarter than you, doesn't it?"

Lifty couldn't keep his eyes off the open door.

If he opened his mouth and screamed, would someone hear him and come rushing to help?

Now the party was over, was there anyone left in the house?

Had Giggles gone off somewhere else?

The sickening realisation that if Shifty had been lying about what he'd done to Lifty's friends, one if them would come looking for him by now, made him ill, because no one had.

Shifty reached behind him and pulled out something long and silvery, it gleamed in the candle light. A knife. Shifty was holding in his right hand a rather large butchers knife, and the glint in his eyes as he smiled at Lifty said that he had every intention of using it.

On Lifty.

Lifty opened his mouth to scream.

But no sound came out.

Smiling, smiling, Shifty sliced the air with the knife once, twice...

And then he began moving towards Lifty.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN- Wow, another fairly quick update! In all honesty, I'm going on holiday on Wednesday, so I'm trying to get as much uploaded as possible!**

**Guest- Oh no, I completely forgot about Lammy! Lets just say that she left with the rest of the guests, as I don't have the time to go back and change it. I'll leave the confrontation at school, to your imagination.**

**shinelikeme- Don't worry! Here's the next chapter. You cans stop crying now! (Though there may be another at the end of this chapter...Sorry!)**

* * *

Chapter 23

When Flaky, Flippy and Giggles burst through the door to the attic, shouting Lifty's name, they came to a abrupt halt.

Lifty, trembling with fear, was standing in the center of the room. He was in one piece, continuous and appeared un-bloodied. But he was not alone.

Another Lifty was standing directly behind Lifty. His left arm was fastened firmly around Lifty's neck, with the other arm posed above his head, holding a knife.

"Lifty, there's... two of you?" Flippy voiced everyone else's confusion.

"Haven't you ever heard of identical twins?" Shifty answered, amusement evident in his voice.

Flippy took a step forward.

"Come one step closer," Lifty's apparent twin threatened, "and this knife slits his throat. I don't mind having an audience, but you will not interfere!" The voice lowered and became firm with purpose. "Because I have to finish this."

He obviously meant what he said. Instead of advancing further into the room, Flippy, Flaky and Giggles moved sideways, their backs close to the wall, until they were directly opposite  
Lifty and his tormentor.

"Lifty," Flippy said carefully, "Care to explain what's going on?"

"Well, as you can see... we are identical twins, we lived together before I moved in with my aunt and..."

"We were more than twins!" Shifty cried angrily, tightening his grip around Lifty's neck "We only had each other. We shared everything. At least I thought we did. But I was wrong. We didn't share trouble, did we, Lifty? You let me have all that for myself. How generous of you!"

"Lifty, what is he talking about?" Flaky asked, her face very pale. "What's going on? Why is he doing this?"

Before Lifty could answer, Shifty shouted "You think your friend here is so sweet and proper. Well he's not! He's a common thief, that's what he is!"

Lifty's eyes closed in pain.

Flaky gasped.

Giggles looked nervous. A thief? In her house?

"Yes, a thief. I see you're shocked. You should be." Shifty bent his head to peer down into Lifty's upturned face." You see Lifty? Your new friends are respectable people. They won't have anything more to do with you now. So it did you no good to run away, none at all." Another grin, showing all of his teeth. "If you are going to live, you'd suffer now as I have. No friends. No fun. No life. Treated like a leper, the way I was. You'd see what I've suffered, how horrible it's been."

"Then let me live," Lifty gasped through Shifty's iron grip. "Punish me that, way, Shifty. If you kill me. I'll never know what you went through, will I?"

A sound of disgust followed the plea. "Oh, you're clever Lifty!" Shifty lifted his head to fix dark eyes on the scarcely breathing onlookers. "Isn't he clever? Trying to trick me into letting him live his worthless life. Just like he tricked me into stealing that ring."

"No... no, I didn't, Shifty! You've got it all twisted. That's not what happened." His eyes on Flaky, Lifty added, "I helped Shifty steal a ring from a jewelry shop. We got caught." Shame coated his words. "I didn't want to lose my brother. But I had to move in with my aunt, who could only take in one child. Now he hates me." His voice fell to a whisper. "I'm sorry guys. Sorry for all of this."

"Shut up!" Shifty grabbed Lifty's head and yanked it back and forth as if he was a rag doll, using the same hand that held the knife.

Unable to watch the movements of the knife so close to Lifty's head, Flaky looked down.

"If it's Lifty you want," Giggles remarked petulantly, "why pick on anyone else? You almost killed one of my guests in the garage earlier. Not to mention the two in the freezer and sauna. Why'd you pick on them?"

"Because they made friends with him," Shifty answered calmly. "They shouldn't have done that. Lifty doesn't deserve friends. He betrayed his own brother, so he will betray his friends. So he can't have any. The others should have known that and ignored him. But they didn't. So they were punished. Enough talking!" Shifty began dragging Lifty backward toward the open French door.

Flaky could see beyond it a small iron balcony... three stories above ground.

"I'm not going to kill him," Shifty said softy, a sly smile on his face. "I don't have to. All I have to do is get him out onto the balcony. I know everything there is to know about Lifty. I know that heights make him dizzy and sick. He'll topple right over, and I won't have to lift a finger. I can just stand here and watch as he hits the ground and breaks into a million pieces."

"There's a safety railing on that balcony," Giggles said smugly. "He wont fall."

Shifty laughed. "There isn't one now. A few turns of a screwdriver, no big deal. That balcony is a wide open as your mouth is, Giggles. He'll fall, I promise you. Want to watch?"

The three watched silently as Lifty's eyes pleaded for help while shifty dragged him closer, closer to the darkness beyond the door.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Hello, it's me again. Well we've made it. Here is the last chapter. Please let me know what you thought of the story. I love reading reviews! **

**Random person: Get on with it! (throws tomato)**

**(Dodges flying tomato) Okay, okay, back to the story!**

**shinelikeme- Well here is the last chapter, so there are no more cliffhangers! (Do you love me again?)**

* * *

Chapter 24

"I'm not going out there," Lifty whispered even as Shifty continued to drag him backward. Lifty's feet dug into the hardwood floor in a futile effort to halt his progress across the room. A devilish breeze from outside set the candle flames dancing across the pair, shrouding them in eerie black and yellow shadows. "I'm not! I can't! Please, Shifty..." Lifty's eyes, full of fear, turned to Flaky.

"Flaky, help me," he moaned. "Don't let Shifty take me out there!"

Flaky felt her own eyes fill with tears.

Shifty is right, Flaky thought with sickening conviction. Lifty is so scared, he'd fall off that balcony to his death the second that Shifty gets him out there. None of us could reach him soon enough to stop him from falling.

Flippy stood in front of Flaky, in hopes of making a move towards Shifty at the first opportunity.

Flaky began to edge backward.

Because she was already only inches from the wall her movements were almost imperceptible in the shadowy room.

The faint wail of a siren sounded in the distance.

But Flaky knew there wasn't time to wait for the police. Shifty had heard the wail too. He tightened his grip on a struggling Lifty's neck and began dragging in earnest.

As they reached the last inch of solid wooden attic floor, Lifty face crumpled and his knees caved in.

"You'll go to prison," Flippy said quietly, his face as colourless as Lifty's. His body was stiff with tension as he fought the need to act, conscious of the knife poised above Lifty's throat. "If Lifty dies, you'll spend the rest of your life there."

Flaky's back bumped up against the antique dartboard she had spotted earlier. One of the steel tipped darts embedded in it's surface poked her in the shoulder.

Keep talking Flippy, she ordered mentally, keep Shifty busy so he doesn't notice me.

Shifty laughed in response to Flippy's remark. "Prison? Do you think i care about prison? My life is ruined anyway. No one trusts me or keeps me around. Maybe in prison I'd have friends again. And if I don't, so what? At least Lifty won't be having the time of his life here with you people."

Flaky's right arm slipped behind her and began reaching upward.

Shifty took another step backward, the knife still upraised, until he was standing on the balcony, his face in almost total darkness.

Lifty was only half conscious, his eyes flickering in terror.

Flaky's arm moved up, up, up... her fingers closed round her target. He clutched the needle pointed dart, tugged on it, yanked at it awkwardly, and pulled it from the board.

"Flippy," she whispered shakily in his ear, "get ready."

He had enough common sense to make no sign that he heard anything. But she noticed that he blinked twice.

Flaky's heart was threatening to burst out of her chest, her knees felt like water, and the worst thing was, her hands were damp with sweat, including the hand holding the dart. It's cold sharp point pressed into her wrist.

I will only have one chance, Flaky thought as she slowly, slowly brought her right arm in front of her, keeping it low, shielded by Flippy. If I miss...

I can't miss. I can't.

Her hand was shaking violently. She had to stop that. Using every ounce of concentration, she willed it to stop. To steady herself.

Sirens shrieked to a halt nearby.

But there was no more time. Shifty was dragging Lifty out onto the balcony, the knife still raised at Lifty's throat.

At the very second that Shifty yanked the sagging Lifty out onto the balcony, Flaky lifted her arm, took aim and threw the dart.

At the same time, she screamed at Flippy to grab Lifty.

The metal tip of the dart flew through the air like a missile and slammed into the center of Shifty's right wrist, still gripping the knife.

A high, shrill shriek of pain came from Shifty's open mouth, and the knife fell the floor of the balcony with a sharp sound.

Flippy dove, grabbing Lifty's arm, yanking him to safety inside of the room. The two fell into a heap on the floor.

Shifty clutched his wrist, the dart embedded deeply in the skin. a bewildered expression crossed his face. His lips parted as if he were about to ask a question, and his eyes were confused as he struggled to maintain his balance on the tiny balcony. His arms waved wildly, clutching at the air for support.

But there was nothing... just as there would be nothing for Lifty to grasp onto.

With a, surprised look on his face, Shifty took an involuntary half-step backward that sent him over the edge of the balcony.

He never screamed.

There was not a sound as he plummeted downward.

When Flaky could move again, she rushed to help Flippy and Lifty.

Giggles moved forward to lean out cautiously, gripping the edge of the open door. The yellow flood lights along the terrace roof far below cast a dull glow out over the lawn. She could barely make out the figure of the still lifeless form surrounded by uniformed men. "They all look like the miniature metal people in my father's electric train set," she murmured.

Then, "I think he's dead," she said unnecessarily. "And the police are here. God, I may never give another party again!"

Lifty began sobbing uncontrollably. Flippy put his arms around him, and held him gently, letting him cry.

After a few minutes, Lifty took a deep breath and looked up at Flaky, kneeling by his side.

"You saved my life," he whispered. "I thought you'd hate me. But you saved me."

Flaky shook her head and found that she had just enough energy left to give Lifty a small grin.

Lifty, white-faced, tear-streaked, smiled an exhausted but beautiful smile of relief.

Flippy reached out and took Flaky's hand.

* * *

**Well there you have it. **

**Expect more Happy Tree Friends Stories in the near future!**

**(I'm working on one right now, so please check it out when I post it)**


	25. Epilouge

**AN- Well here it is, the epilogue that you all asked for. Sorry you had to wait, I was just on holiday. Anyway the reason that I wasn't originally going to have an epilogue is simple. **

**I can't write epilogues! **

**I never know what to put, so I'm sorry if this wasn't what you were hoping for- but at least I tried to make you happy. Oh, I'm also going to try to post my next fanfic today- so please look out for it!**

**shinelikeme windiershark guest- hope this is to your liking!**

* * *

Epilogue

There was an extra chair at Flaky's lunch table from that moment on. Flippy had been well and truly absorbed into the group, as when you go through something like that together, you can't help but at the very least be acquaintances.

Contrarily to his original belief, Lifty was not removed from the friendship circle, in fact without that big secret, he found that he could relax. However there was still that large part of him that would always feel little guilty for his twin.

However when he looked back on the memories of his twin, he looked back at the good times, the times when money wasn't an issue, when social status didn't matter. When it was just them against the world.

That's who Shifty really was.

That poor tortured soul would never be his twin. Not in Lifty's eyes anyway.

The gang was talking, eating and definitely not pressuring Flaky and Flippy into kissing.

When a purple paper plane landed on Nutty's head.

"AH! WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS? I'M TRYING TO EAT!"

Toothy reached over and grabbed the plane. He carefully unfolded it to create a note. He read it out loud.

* * *

_Hi,_

_I don't know if you know who I am, but I know who you are. I just want to say sorry. I thought Giggles was playing a prank, and it was the first time she had included me in anything. And if I appeared like a horrible person, it's just that Mr. Pickles and I have ha d a little falling out, so I was in a horrible mood._

_I hope we can be friends._

_Lammy _

_(Second table to your right)_

* * *

The gang craned their necks and saw the blushing girl, hiding in her woolen jumper. However they quickly turned away when Giggles moved in front of Lammy to give them a deathly glare. It was apparent that she didn't take the empty chair next to her lightly.

"That Lammy has some nerve begging for forgiveness, what she did to you guys was terrible." Flippy broke the silence.

"Yeah, but she clearly didn't know what was going on." Toothy defended her.

"It's Giggles, what did she think was going to happen? Everyone knows that she is bad news." Flippy countered.

"Well, if she was so bad then why on earth were you friends with her!" Toothy looked over to the blushing girl on that table, and he just felt like he needed to defend her.

"So, anyway, Petunia says that she's going to go on a date with me!" Handy exclaimed out to his friends. Successfully managing to stop the awkwardness.

"That's great Handy!" Flaky smiled, not just for Handy, but she was glad the argument stopped, she didn't know who to defend. Her friend, who she had known or her life, or her boyfriend, who she loved, but didn't know for that long.

Petunia regularly visited handy, who was "so brave" and "must of had a living nightmare". Not that these things weren't true. It's just that she didn't say them to anybody else.

When thinking about Handy's apparent luck with the ladies no one heard Flippy mumble "I thought I could change her."

* * *

**AN- Hey me again! That wasn't too horrible was it? See you have just read the reason I don't write epilogues. I would just like to take this time to say thanks to everyone who has read this. It means so much to me!**


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